Cephalon to pay up to $525 million to buy cancer drug developer Gemin X

US drugmaker Cephalon (Nasdaq: CEPH) has signed a definitive merger agreement to acquire all of the outstanding capital stock of privately held Pennsylvania-based Gemin X Pharmaceuticals, which is developing first-in-class cancer therapeutics, for $225 million cash on a cash-free, debt-free basis.

Gemin X stockholders could also receive up to $300 million in cash payments on the achievement of certain regulatory and sales milestones. There are no royalty obligations to Gemin X stockholders. The agreement is subject to customary closing conditions including the receipt of necessary regulatory approvals, and is expected to close in the second half of this year.

The transaction will add to four acquisitions made by Cephalon last year, namely: Swiss firm Mepha AG for $590 million; USA-based Ception for $250 million and BioAssets for $42.5 million, and a 20% stake in Australia’s Mesoblast for $220 million (The Pharma Letters passim).