Actelion to acquire CoTherix

11/21/06 - newratings.com

LONDON, November 21 (newratings.com) – Actelion Ltd (ACT) Monday announced a definitive agreement to acquire CoTherix Inc for $420 million in cash.

The Swiss biotech company said that the transaction has been approved unanimously by the Boards of Directors of both companies. The Brisbane, California-based CoTherix currently markets Ventavis, which is the only approved inhaled therapy for treating Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension in the United States. Actelion expects Ventavis’ sales to lead to more than $100 million in product revenues in 2007. The acquisition is likely to be accretive to cash earnings in 2007 on account of the synergies, Actelion said. The deal is likely to be accretive to the company’s US-GAAP earnings, starting in 2008.