Following a recent trend of pharmaceutical giants buying smaller companies for a specific product that shows potential, Amgen Inc. purchased Onyx Pharmaceuticals in late 2013. The $10.4 billion deal gives Amgen a presence in the cancer drug market, as it obtained the multiple myeloma drug Kyprolis in the transaction. The sale values Onyx at $125 a share, more than four times the price at which the stock traded five years ago.

1. By Lindsay Rosenwald

2. 
Following a recent trend of pharmaceutical
giants buying smaller companies for a
specific product that shows potential, Amgen
Inc. purchased Onyx Pharmaceuticals in late
2013. The $10.4 billion deal gives Amgen a
presence in the cancer drug market, as it
obtained the multiple myeloma drug Kyprolis
in the transaction. The sale values Onyx at
$125 a share, more than four times the price
at which the stock traded five years ago.

3. 
Analysts say the purchase helps secure Amgen’s
long-term growth and gives the company a
strong addition to its product line, which
previously was heavy with drugs that helped
cancer patients cope with side effects of
treatments rather than treating the disease.
Cancer drugs are a fast-growing, lucrative
segment of the pharmaceutical industry, and
demand will likely increase as the large Baby
Boomer generation gets older. In 2012, cancer
therapies brought in $84 billion in sales
worldwide, and cancer drugs are expected to
comprise the top-selling category of
pharmaceutical drugs by 2018.