Jazz to Buy Gentium for $1 Billion for Rare-Disease Drugs
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Jazz Pharmaceuticals Plc, the maker of the narcolepsy treatment Xyrem, agreed to buy Gentium SpA, a rare-disease drug developer, in a deal valued at $1 billion.
Jazz, based in Dublin, will pay $57 a share in cash, a 2.4 percent premium over yesterday’s closing price in New York for Gentium’s American depositary receipts, the companies said in a statement. Villa Guardia, Italy-based Gentium received approval in October from European regulators for Defitelio, a treatment for a disease that can occur after stem cell transplants.