Celgene’s $9 Billion Juno Deal Could Be This Year’s Most Expensive

• January 22 2018
• Brandon Kochkodin

Celgene Corp.’s deal to buy Juno Therapeutics Inc. for about $9 billion might not be the biggest deal that we’ll see this year. It could be the most expensive.

Celgene Corp.’s deal to buy Juno Therapeutics Inc. for about $9 billion might not be the biggest deal that we’ll see this year. It could be the most expensive.

The Summit, New Jersey-based biotechnology company will pay $87 a share in cash, according to a statement Monday. That’s 91 percent above Juno’s closing price on Jan. 16, the last trading day before the Wall Street Journal reported that the companies were in talks.

That’s the third-highest premium for a deal worth $5 billion or more between U.S. companies since 2008. It trails deals by Gilead Sciences Inc. and Takeda Pharmaceutical Co.

With the purchase of Juno, Celgene will gain research into a novel class of therapies known as CAR-T that use the body’s own immune system to fight cancer.

— With assistance by Caroline Chen, and Rebecca Spalding