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The Swiss drug maker Roche agreed on Sunday to buy InterMune — which sells a drug to treat a deadly lung disease — for $8.3 billion, as pharmaceutical companies continue to seek new products to bolster their offerings.
在制药企业纷纷寻求以新药扩充产品类别之际，瑞士药企罗氏公司(Roche)周日同意以83亿美元收购InterMune，后者拥有一款药品，可以治疗致命的肺部疾病。
The price, $74 a share, represents a 38 percent premium to InterMune’s closing price on Friday and a 63 percent premium to the price on Aug.12, before news reports that InterMune might be acquired.
上述交易的收购价为每股74美元（约合455元人民币），较InterMue周五的收盘价溢价38%，较收购消息传出前8月12日的股价溢价63%。
The acquisition was announced during a flurry of pharmaceutical deals and attempted deals. About $87 billion in pharmaceutical acquisitions were made in the first half of this year, eclipsing the total for all of 2013, according to Evaluate, a research company. The total for the first half does not include the $54 billion acquisition of Shire by AbbVie, which was formally announced in July.
罗氏公司宣布上述交易的同时，制药行业的交易数量出现了猛增。研究公司Evaluate的数据显示，今年上半年，该行业的收购交易总额约为870亿美元，超过了2013全年的规模。这还不包括7月正式宣布的艾伯维(AbbVie)收购沙尔制药(Shire)的540亿美元的交易。
InterMune, based in Brisbane, Calif., has one product on the market: a drug called pirfenidone to treat idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a fatal scarring of the lungs.
InterMune总部设在加州布里斯班，在市场上只有一款产品：吡非尼酮。该药治疗的是特发性肺纤维化，一种可导致肺部结痂的致命疾病。
InterMune, which is still not profitable, sells pirfenidone under the name Esbriet in Europe and Canada, where it received regulatory approval in 2011 and 2012. The drug could receive approval in the United States by Nov. 23.
尚未盈利的InterMune于2011年和2012年分别在欧洲和加拿大获得了监管机构的批准，以品牌名称Esbriet销售吡非尼酮。该药品可能会于11月23日前在美国获批。
Sales of Esbriet were $35.7 million in the second quarter, but some analysts expect annual revenues to eventually exceed $1 billion.
Esbriet的第二季度销售额为3570万美元，但分析师预计，该产品的年度营收最终会超过10亿美元。
“We are obviously focused on high unmet medical needs and looking for medicines that make a significant difference clinically, and this clearly fits that bill,” Daniel O’Day, who runs Roche’s pharmaceutical business, said in an interview on Sunday.
“我们明确地专注于目前无法被满足的重大药品需求，寻找临床上能产生重大影响的药物，而它显然符合我们的要求，”罗氏公司制药业务负责人丹尼尔·奥黛(Daniel O’Day)周日接受采访时说。
He said the acquisition would strengthen its portfolio of drugs for respiratory diseases. That has not been a major business for a company mainly known for its cancer treatments. Roche sells Xolair, a drug for asthma, and Pulmozyme for cystic fibrosis. But it has another drug, lebrikizumab, that is in late-stage clinical trials to treat severe asthma and is also being evaluated as a possible treatment for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.
他说，这笔交易将强化公司的呼吸系统药物的产品线。罗氏公司以生产抗癌药物闻名，呼吸系统药物并非其主要业务。该公司已推出了治疗哮喘的奥马珠单抗，以及治疗囊肿性纤维化的阿法链道酶。该公司另一款针对严重哮喘的药物lebrikizumab目前处于临床试验的后期，同时正在就其作为特发性肺纤维化药品的可能性接受评估。
Roche, however, has historically not relied much on acquisitions for its pharmaceutical business, though it has in its diagnostics business. The big exception was its acquisition of the part of biotechnology pioneer Genentech that it did not already own for $46.8 billion in 2009.
与该公司的疾病诊断业务不同，罗氏的制药业务长期以来并没有过多地依赖收购交易。不过，一个较大的例外情况是，该公司在2009年曾以468亿美元的价格收购不在其手中的生物科技先锋企业基因泰克(Genentech)的部分股份。
In the last couple of months, Roche has announced some smaller acquisitions, agreeing to pay at least $725 million for privately held Seragon Pharmaceuticals, which is developing breast cancer drugs, and at least $250 million for privately held Santaris Pharma, which develops drugs that work by affecting RNA.
过去几个月，罗氏宣布了几笔规模较小的收购交易，包括以至少7.25亿美元收购私人持股的Seragon Pharmaceuticals，以及以至少2.5亿美元收购了私人持股的Santaris Pharma。Seragon Pharmaceuticals正在开发乳腺癌药物。而Santaris Pharma开发的药物主要通过影响RNA产生疗效。
Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, which has no known cause, affects 70,000 to 200,000 Americans, according to various estimates. As scarring builds up in the lungs, people gradually lose the ability to breathe. Death often occurs two to five years after diagnosis.
特发性肺纤维化的原因尚不明确，各类数据显示，美国的患病人数在7万到20万之间。随着肺部结痂的增多，患者会逐渐丧失呼吸能力，且通常在确诊后两至五年内死亡。
No treatments are approved for use in the United States, though steroids and some other drugs are used off label, and a relatively small number of patients can receive lung transplants.
美国没有批准任何特发性肺纤维化的治疗方法，但是类固醇等药物已通过超适应症用药投入使用，少数患者可以接受肺部移植手术。
But Esbriet, if it is approved, probably will not have the market to itself for long because Boehringer Ingelheim of Germany has also applied for approval of a drug called nintedanib.
不过，Esbriet即使获批，可能也无法长期垄断市场，这是因为德国制药企业勃林格殷格翰(Boehringer Ingelheim)正在申请批准的一款名为nintedanib的药物。
Both drugs slow the decline in lung function, according to papers in The New England Journal of Medicine in May. Evidence from clinical trials indicates that pirfenidone can also help patients live longer, though it is not clear if the evidence is strong enough for that to be listed on the drug’s label if it is approved.
这两种药物都能够延缓肺功能衰竭的速度，《新英格兰医学杂志》(The New England Journal of Medicine)5月发表的一篇论文称。临床试验得到的证据显示，吡非尼酮也能延长患者的寿命，不过尚不清楚相关证据是否足够强大，让这一点可以在药品获批后出现在标签上。
Mr. O’Day said data from the latest clinical trial, published in May, drew Roche’s interest. He said his company approached InterMune in late July.
奥黛说，5月发表的最新临床试验数据吸引了罗氏公司。他说，罗氏公司在7月末接触了InterMune。
The acquisition represents a triumph for InterMune after a history of travails. A previous drug being tested for pulmonary fibrosis failed in clinical trials. The company’s former chief executive, W. Scott Harkonen, was convicted of wire fraud for issuing a news release that prosecutors said was an effort to promote off-label sales of that drug. Then, in 2010 the Food and Drug Administration rejected pirfenidone, asking for an additional clinical trial.
这次收购代表着InterMune长期艰苦努力后的一次胜利。该公司之前推出的一款肺纤维化药品的临床试验宣告失败。公司前首席执行官W·斯科特·哈尔克宁(W. Scott Harkonen)被判电信欺诈罪名成立，因为据检方称，他通过发布新闻稿来推动这款药物的超适应症销售。2010年，美国食品与药品管理局(Food and Drug Administration)拒绝批准吡非尼酮，要求对其进行更多临床试验。
The merger is expected to close by year end. Mr. O’Day declined to say if there would be layoffs, though he said the main purpose of the merger was “growth synergies.”
这笔交易预计将于年底完成。奥黛拒绝透露公司是否会裁员，不过他说，收购主要是为了实现“增长的协同效益”。
Citigroup and the law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell advised Roche. Centerview Partners, Goldman Sachs and the law firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore advised InterMune.
为罗氏提供咨询服务的是花旗集团(Citigroup)和达维律师事务所(Davis Polk & Wardwell)。为InterMune提供咨询服务的是森特尔维尤合伙公司(Centerview Partners)、高盛(Goldman Sachs)和科瓦斯-斯怀恩-摩尔国际律师事务所(Cravath, Swaine & Moore)。
