AMGN Opens Wallet For ONXX, SHIELD-1 Fails To Protect CCXI, ZMH Gets FDA Nod

(RTTNews) - Amgen Inc. (AMGN), which made 4 acquisitions last year, has opened its wallet again this year to buy Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ONXX). According to the deal announced on Sunday, Amgen will acquire Onyx for $125 per share in cash, equivalent to $10.4 billion or $9.7 billion net of estimated Onyx cash.

Amgen has been attempting to buy Onyx since June when it made an unsolicited offer to buy Onyx for $120 per share. But that proposal was rejected by Onyx on the grounds that the offer price significantly undervalued the company.

AMGN closed Friday's trading at $105.60, down 0.65%. ONXX closed the day's trading at $116.96, down 0.54%.

ChemoCentryx Inc.'s (CCXI) drug candidate Vercirnon, currently in pivotal phase III clinical trials being conducted by partner GlaxoSmithKline plc (GSK) for the treatment of patients with moderate-to-severe Crohn's disease, has failed to meet the primary endpoint of improvement in clinical response and the key secondary endpoint of clinical remission in first of the four phase III studies, dubbed SHIELD-1.

The phase III program of Vercirnon includes three other ongoing trials dubbed, SHIELD-2, SHIELD-3 and SHIELD-4.

ChemoCentryx expects to report 12-week interim analysis from the ongoing 52-week phase II study of CCX140 in diabetic nephropathy later this quarter. CCX140 is the company's wholly-owned drug candidate.

CCXI plunged 28.83% on Friday to close at $8.32.

Zimmer Holdings Inc. (ZMH) has received FDA clearance to market Zimmer Patient Specific Instruments Shoulder system to complement its Trabecular Metal Reverse Shoulder system for reverse shoulder arthroplasty procedures.

Zimmer Patient Specific Instruments Shoulder system utilizes 3D visualization software to allow a surgeon to create a customized surgical plan for each patient, and then provides patient-specific surgical instrument guides to facilitate placement of the implant corresponding to the personalized surgical plan. The device has been available to a limited number of surgeons in Europe since May, noted the company.

ZMH closed Friday's trading at $80.52, down 0.28%.