Momenta Pharmaceuticals spikes 69% after agreeing to $6.5 billion Johnson & Johnson takeover

• Momenta Pharmaceuticals surged as much as 69% on Wednesday after reaching an agreement to be acquired by Johnson & Johnson.
• The deal values Momenta at $52.50 per share, a 70.4% premium to its Wednesday close. The acquisition will cost Johnson & Johnson $6.5 billion in total.
• Momenta expects the takeover to close in the second half of 2020.
• Johnson & Johnson will gain full rights to Momenta's nipocalimab drug. The therapy will give its Janssen arm the opportunity to reach far more patients with autoimmune diseases, Johnson & Johnson said in a press release.
• Watch Momenta trade live here.

Momenta Pharmaceuticals stock spiked as much as 69% on Wednesday after the company announced plans to be acquired by industry titan Johnson & Johnson.

The deal values Momenta at $52.50 per share, representing a 70.4% premium to the stock's Tuesday close. Johnson & Johnson will pay $6.5 billion for the takeover. The acquisition is expected to close in the second half of 2020, Momenta said in a press release.

The buyout gives Johnson & Johnson's Janssen Pharmaceuticals arm the chance to further expand into immune-mediated diseases, Johnson & Johnson said in its own release. The pharmaceutical giant will gain full rights to Momenta's nipocalimab drug, a clinically validated antibody that may help Janssen reach more patients with autoimmune diseases, according to the release.

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Johnson & Johnson traded slightly higher on the news.

Nipocalimab aims to target diseases that lead the body's own immune system to attack other cells. Johnson & Johnson "is the right company" to advance such autoimmune drugs, Momenta CEO Craig Wheeler said.

Goldman Sachs and Centerview Partners will serve as Momenta's financial advisers in the deal, with Latham & Watkins acting as legal counsel.

Momenta closed at $30.81 per share on Tuesday, up 61% year-to-date.

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