Costa Mesa-based Valeant Pharmaceuticals International said Monday it plans to buy the U.S. and Canadian rights to Infergen, a hepatitis C drug, from Brisbane-based InterMune Inc.
Valeant is set to pay $113.5 million in cash when the deal closes. It will pay another $22.5 million in subsequent payments.
Valeant said the deal was approved by its board and is expected to close later this year, pending regulatory approval.
Acquiring Infergen provides Valeant “with a valuable addition to one of our core therapeutic areas,” said Chief Executive Timothy Tyson in a release.
Tyson said that Valeant was planning to hire up to 50 of InterMune’s sales and marketing workers, which he said would help ready Valeant for the anticipated launch of its Viramidine drug.
Viramidine, which has been the subject of some fretting among investors, is due to release its third-quarter clinical results early next year. Valeant is looking to launch the drug in 2007.
