Drug majors sniff around Denmark's Ascendis, which has been up for sale; Cognis sells out to BASF

Danish early-stage biotechnology company Ascendis Pharma is up for sale, according to a person familiar with the matter reported by the Wall Street Journal. The auction has drawn interest from a handful of health care heavyweights such as French drug major Sanofi-Aventis and US biotech firm Amgen, but the WSJ said none of the companies were open to comment at the present time.

Lazard is running the sales process for closely held Ascendis. Indicative bids ranging from roughly $350 million to $450 million have been received, with binding offers likely due by the end of July, reports the WSJ, noting that a sale is not guaranteed and the company could even be sold in pieces.

Ascendis, which is owned by three European venture-capital firms, was founded in 2007. It is developing a six-product portfolio, including treatments focused on delivering drugs for growth hormone deficiency and diabetes. Ascendis' technology is aimed at enabling patients to inject insulin and human growth hormone on a weekly rather than daily basis - a long-sought target for drug developers.