Costa Mesa-based Valeant Pharmaceuticals International on Tuesday wrapped up its buy of a hepatitis C drug from Northern California’s InterMune Inc. for $113.5 million plus $20 million in milestone payments through 2009.
The drug, Infergen, originally was developed by Amgen Inc. and debuted in the U.S. in 1997.
Acquiring Infergen provides Valeant “with a valuable addition to one of our core therapeutic areas,” Chief Executive Timothy Tyson said in an earlier release.
Valeant plans to hire up to 50 of InterMune’s sales and marketing workers.
The company is nearing the release of trial data for its own hepatitis C drug candidate, Viramidine. Valeant is looking to launch the drug in 2007.
