(Bloomberg) — Bayer AG agreed to acquire U.S. biotech company Asklepios BioPharmaceutical Inc. for as much as $4 billion, bolstering its pharma division with experimental gene therapies before patents expire on some key drugs.The German chemicals giant will pay $2 billion upfront and another $2 billion in potential milestone payments in cash for closely held AskBio, a North Carolina-based company that’s developing gene therapies for ailments such as Parkinson’s disease and congestive heart failure.Bayer is expanding in the cutting-edge field of gene and cell therapies at a time when its blockbuster drugs age and the company’s crop-protection business reels from …read more
Source:: Yahoo Finance
