Baxter buys Sigma-Tau leukemia portfolio

Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) acquired a portfolio of leukemia products from Sigma-Tau Group (Pomezia, Italy) for $900 million. The portfolio includes Oncaspar pegasparagase, which is marketed to treat acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), and calaspargase pegol, a related compound designed to be dosed less frequently.

Baxter said annual sales of Oncaspar, a pegylated L-asparaginase, are about $100 million. The company expects data this year from a Phase II study of calaspargase pegol. ...