Shire buys US biotech firm Dyax for $5.9bn: companies

Dublin-based pharmaceutical group Shire said Monday it had agreed to buy Dyax, a US company specialising in rare diseases, for $5.9 billion (5.34 billion euros).

"This highly complementary transaction aligns with and accelerates our strategy to build a global leading biotechnology company focused on rare diseases and speciality conditions," Shire's chief executive Flemming Ornskov said in a statement outlining the deal that could rise by a further $650 million.

Dyax's chief executive, Gustav Christensen, said the "transaction will deliver substantial value" to his company's shareholders amid a sustained period of sector consolidation.

He added that the deal highlights Dyax's "shared commitment to bringing innovative medicines to patients who suffer from the devastating effects of HAE" -- described in the statement as a "rare, debilitating genetic inflammatory condition".

London-listed Shire, which is betting on success for Dyax's DX-2930 test drug treatment for HAE, added that it had not given up on trying to buy US biotech firm Baxalta in a much bigger deal.

"Even with this (Dyax) transaction, we will continue to have the financial firepower to pursue other value-added strategic acquisitions, including Baxalta," Ornskov said in Monday's statement.

Shire had a $30-billion offer for Baxalta turned down by the US group in August.