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Bristol Myers Squibb buys biopharma MyoKardia for $13B

Bristol Myers Squibb CEO Dr. Giovanni Caforio speaks during a hearing about drug prices last Wednesday before the House oversight committee in Washington, D.C. Photo by Greg Nash/UPI/Pool
Bristol Myers Squibb CEO Dr. Giovanni Caforio speaks during a hearing about drug prices last Wednesday before the House oversight committee in Washington, D.C. Photo by Greg Nash/UPI/Pool | License Photo

Oct. 5 (UPI) -- Bristol Myers Squibb said Monday it will buy biopharmaceutical company MyoKardia for $13 billion, its second large acquisition in two years.

MyoKardia, which develops therapies for serious cardiovascular diseases, produces mavacamten, a potential medicine to treat the chronic heart disease obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

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"We are further strengthening our outstanding cardiovascular franchise through the addition of mavacamten, a promising medicine with the potential to address a significant unmet medical need in patients with cardiovascular disease," Bristol Myers Squibb CEO Dr. Giovanni Caforio said in a statement.

MykoKardia CEO Tassos Gianakakos said the company was created eight years ago to address serious cardiovascular disease with "bold and innovative science." Since then, he said, it's produced treatments to help heart function after illness.

"Bristol Myers Squibb shares our vision for transforming the treatment of cardiovascular disease," Gianakokos said in a statement. "They value our team and the potential of our platform and, most importantly, share our unwavering commitment to placing patients at the center of everything we do."

Bristol Myers Squibb last year bought cancer drug company Celgene for $74 billion. Celgene produces oncology drugs such as Opdivo, Yervoy, Revlimid and Pomalyst.

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