Takeda acquires Ariad Pharma and with it rights to Iclusig (ponatinib)

Ariad Pharmaceuticals announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited under which Takeda will acquire all of the outstanding shares in Ariad for $24.00 per share in cash, or a total enterprise value of approximately $5.2 billion, representing a premium of approximately 75 percent over Ariad's closing price on January 6, 2017. Under the terms of the agreement, Ariad stockholders will receive $24.00 in cash for each share of Ariad common stock they own. The transaction has been approved unanimously by the boards of directors of both companies, and is expected to close by the end of February 2017, subject to required regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. With Ariad comes its rights to cancer drug Iclusig (ponatinib).