By Ranjan Bhaduri
New York, Mar 10, (THAINDIAN NEWS) Medical products giant Abbott Laboratories declared on Tuesday that it is going to acquire Facet Biotech Corp. The deal has been finalized for a whopping $450 million and it would be given in cash, as it has been learnt. It will enable the company to extend its range of biotechnology drugs and as a result the patients suffering from severe ailments like multiple sclerosis will be benefited. Abbott Laboratories will also be able to use the cancer treatment products developed and invented by Facet Biotech.

As per the deal, Abbott will have to pay $27 per share. The deal has been approved by the board of directors of both the companies. The deal will be finalized by the 2nd quarter of this year. Last year Facet rejected an acquisition deal by Biogen Idec. After the news of the deal broke out the stock price of Facet Biotech surged upwards and the rise was more than 60 percent. Facet refused the earlier bid by Biogen saying it was not worth its value. The senior vice president of Abbott, John Leonard, said in his statement that this deal will go a long way in helping the company to strengthen its pharmaceutical pipeline.

Faheem Hasnain, the CEO and president of Facet expressed his satisfaction over the deal with Abbott. He said that the deal offered by Abbott is a fair one. As of now, Abbott is engaged in developing remedies for potent ailments like schizophrenia, hepatitis C and Alzheimer’s disease. As the acquisition closes, Abbott may have to incur few onetime expenses.