Valeant to serve as 'stalking horse bidder' in court-supervised Dendreon sales process

US biotech firm Dendreon (Nasdaq: DNDN) says it has reached an agreement with Canada’s Valeant Pharmaceuticals International (TSX:VRX) whereby, subject to bankruptcy court approval, Valeant will serve as the “stalking horse” bidder in conjunction with a court-supervised sales process (The Pharma Letter January 28).

Under the terms of the agreement, Valeant would acquire the world-wide rights of prostate cancer therapy Provenge (sipuleucel-T) and certain other Dendreon assets for $296 million, subject to higher and better bids.

“We are pleased to reach this agreement with Valeant and to move forward with the court-supervised sales process,” said Thomas Amick, president and chief executive of Dendreon, adding: “We are confident that this process will result in a strong new owner for Provenge, and that patients will continue to receive treatments with no disruption moving forward.”