Johnson & Johnson Acquire Omrix Biopharmaceuticals

One more acquisition in the news, and a fairly large announcement at that. Just one more indication of the interest and investments from Pharma expanding beyond just drugs and pursuing biotech companies with state of the art technologies for healthcare, this one in the surgical products area. BD

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. and NEW YORK, Nov. 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ - News) and Omrix Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: OMRI - News), a fully integrated biopharmaceutical company that develops and markets biosurgical and immunotherapy products, today announced a definitive agreement whereby Omrix will be acquired for approximately $438 million in a cash tender offer. Omrix is expected to operate as a stand-alone entity reporting through ETHICON, Inc., a Johnson & Johnson company and leading provider of suture, mesh, hemostats and other products for a wide range of surgical procedures.

The acquisition of Omrix would provide ETHICON with an opportunity to strengthen its presence in active, biologic-based hemostats and convergent products for various surgical applications. ETHICON currently has exclusive distribution rights in the U.S. and the European Union for EVITHROM(TM) Thrombin Topical (Human) and EVICEL(TM) Fibrin Sealant (Human), two active, biologic-based hemostats manufactured by Omrix. ETHICON and Omrix are also partnering on a Fibrin Pad product candidate, currently in Phase II clinical trials, as an adjunct to control mild to moderate soft tissue bleeding.