Pfizer Inc. claimed the pharmaceutical industry’s latest big prize Aug. 22, beating out a group of rivals after months of jockeying to buy Medivation Inc. and its blockbuster cancer drug for $14 billion.
Left behind was French drugmaker Sanofi, whose aggressive and at one point hostile pursuit of Medivation helped open up the process to Pfizer, Gilead Sciences Inc. and others that were said to be involved. Pfizer will pay $81.50 a share in cash, the companies said in a statement Aug. 22, well above Sanofi’s initial $52.50 a share offer.
By acquiring Medivation, Pfizer gets Xtandi, a cancer drug that’s already ...