Sanofi Building Vaccine Pipeline with $549M Buyout of Acambis

London-based Acambis plc is being acquired by Sanofi Pasteur Holding, the vaccines division of Paris-based Sanofi-Aventis Group, in a deal valued at about ?276 million (US$549 million), as the overseas buyout trend continues. Over the past few months, European pharmaceutical firms have snatched up several promising biotechs, with Novartis AG's potential $400 million deal for Malvern, Pa.-based Protez Pharmaceuticals in June and Basingstoke, UK-based Shire Ltd.'s $519 million purchase of German firm Jerini AG earlier this month. Novartis, of Basel, Switzerland, also is close to concluding an acquisition of Speedel Holdings AG, also of Basel, in a transaction valued at about $880 million. And, in what could become the largest biotech acquisition to date, Roche Holdings AG has offered to buy out the minority stake of partner... [read full story]