Drug giant pays £20bn for biotech

Following nine months of negotiations, Sanofi-Aventis finally agreed a $20bn price tag for US biotech group Genzyme, in the second-biggest deal in biotech history.

French pharma giant Sanofi-Aventis is buying US biotech group Genzyme, the world's top manufacturer of medicines for rare genetic disorders. After nine months of negotiations, the firms settled on a price tag of $20bn, a 48% premium to Genzyme's pre-bid price. Sanofi will make additional cash payments to Genzyme if the latter hits certain drug development targets. The deal is the second-biggest in biotech history.

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