Astellas buying Ocata for $379M

Astellas Pharma Inc. (Tokyo:4503) announced late Monday night that it will acquire cell therapy company Ocata Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:OCAT) for $8.50 per share, or $379 million in cash. The price represents a 91% premium to Ocata's close of $4.46 on Nov. 9, before the deal was announced.

Astellas will gain Ocata's retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cell therapy, which is in Phase II testing to treat Stargardt's macular dystrophy (SMD) and dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The human embryonic stem cell-derived RPE cells are also in Phase I testing to treat myopic macular degeneration. ...