Roche Holding Agrees to Buy InterMune for $8.3 Billion

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Roche Holding AG agreed to buy InterMune Inc. for about $8.3 billion in cash, gaining access to what may be the first drug in the U.S. for a lung disease that can be fatal within five years of diagnosis.

Roche will pay $74 a share for InterMune, a biotechnology company with 450 employees, the Basel, Switzerland-based drugmaker said today in a statementBloomberg Terminal. It is 38 percent more than the Aug. 22 closing price for Brisbane, California-based InterMune, and 63 percent higher than on Aug. 12, when news of a potential sale first emerged.