Facet Biotech calls Biogen offer too low

The Associated Press reports that Facet Biotech Corp. has turned down a $356 million buyout offer from drug development partner Biogen Idec Inc., saying it doesn''t properly value the company and its developing products. Biogen, based in Cambridge, Mass., offered to pay $14.50 per share for Redwood City, Calif.-based Facet. The companies have been working together since 2005 to develop the cancer drug candidate volociximab and the multiple sclerosis drug daclizumab. Biogen was sharply critical of Facet when it made the offer, saying it stated its interest in August and offered to buy the company for $15 per share on Aug. 21. A week after that, Facet announced a collaboration with Trubion on a leukemia drug. "In our collaboration with Biogen Idec, one of the leaders in the field of multiple sclerosis, we knew there would be a high clinical hurdle for Biogen Idec to take the drug (daclizumab) forward into a phase 3 clinical trial," said Facet president and CEO Faheem Hasnain in a statement. "It does not appear to be a coincidence that Biogen Idec made its acquisition proposal within weeks of our joint decision to begin a phase 3 trial following a planned interim futility analysis, and at a time when the significance of this positive development has not been fully appreciated by the investment community." Facet has also developed a "stockholder rights plan", which is meant to guard against a takeover of the company.