Endo Chief Says He Has $500 Million to Buy Cancer and Urology Products

Endo Pharmaceuticals Holdings Inc. has a $500 million budget for acquisitions and is seeking health information technology and diagnostic tools for cancer and urology, Chief Executive Officer David Holveck said.

“Everything in the treatment of patients starts with diagnostics,” Holveck said today in an interview at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco. “A lot of the earlier diagnostics didn’t have access to what we know today as molecular diagnostics that are much more specific.”

The Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania-based maker of tamper-proof pain pills has announced completion of six deals in the past five years, with an average size of $352.8 million and a typical premium of 49 percent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Endo’s shares rose their highest value in three years on Sept. 28 after the company agreed to buy U.S. generic-drugmaker Qualitest Pharmaceuticals for about $1.2 billion from private- equity firm Apax Partners LLP. In May, the company said it would Acquire HealthTronics Inc., a provider of urologic lab services and devices, for $223 million.

Endo fell 5 cents, or less than a percent, to $34.10 at 4 p.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market composite trading. The shares gained 73 percent in the past 12 months.

To contact the reporter on this story: Sasha Damouni in New York at sdamouni2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Reg Gale at rgale5@bloomberg.