SciClone Buys China-Based NovaMed

SciClone Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:SCLN]]), the Foster City, CA-based specialty pharmaceutical company, said today it has acquired China-based NovaMed Pharmaceuticals. SciClone agreed to pay as much as $105 million, by providing about $24.7 million in upfront cash, offering 8.3 million shares of stock worth $37 million at yesterday’s close, and making NovaMed eligible for cash milestones worth as much as $43 million. SciClone CEO Friedhelm Blobel said the deal will “dramatically expand” his company’s presence in China.

Author: Luke Timmerman

Luke is an award-winning journalist specializing in life sciences. He has served as national biotechnology editor for Xconomy and national biotechnology reporter for Bloomberg News. Luke got started covering life sciences at The Seattle Times, where he was the lead reporter on an investigation of doctors who leaked confidential information about clinical trials to investors. The story won the Scripps Howard National Journalism Award and several other national prizes. Luke holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and during the 2005-2006 academic year, he was a Knight Science Journalism Fellow at MIT.