Aventis Pharma, the pharmaceutical unit of Aventis, has said it would pay Millennium Pharmaceuticals $450 million for a stake in the company as well as for the rights to its drug discovery technologies.
Under the terms of the deal, Aventis will pay Millennium of Cambridge, Mass., up to $200 million over a five-year period in exchange for the rights to its technologies. Aventis of Frankfurt, will also buy up to $250 million in Millennium’s common stock. A $150 million stock purchase is to be made at the closing of the deal and two $50 million purchases will be made in 2001.
The two companies said they would work together to develop new technologies along with anti-inflammatory drugs aimed at treating rheumatoid arthritis, asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, multiple sclerosis, and inflammatory bowel disease.