Millennium Pharmaceuticals has agreed to acquire Cambridge Discovery Chemistry, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the UK’s Oxford Molecular Group, for $53 million in cash.
To finance the deal, Millennium said it would sell securities in a private placement.
Based in Cambridge, Mass., Millennium said the acquisition would help it to build its medicinal and computational chemistry infrastructure in order to to accelerate its downstream drug discovery program.
“This enhanced discovery research capability will be invaluable not only in advancing Millennium’s proprietary pipeline, but in Millennium’s recently announced strategic alliance with Aventis, a collaboration for the discovery, development, and commercialization of anti-inflammatory drugs and the development of drug discovery technologies,” said Mark Levin, chairman and CEO of Millennium.
The deal will more than double Millennium’s chemistry staff to 150. Millennium, which currently employs more than 1,000 people, said it has plans for further growth.
Cambridge Discovery Chemistry will continue to operate in the United Kingdom.