FTC has fast-tracked Bone Care merger

Genzyme Corporation and Middleton-based Bone Care International Inc.announced on Wednesday that the U.S. Federal Trade Commission has fast-tracked their proposed merger.

Genzyme and Bone Care have signed a definitive agreement for Genzyme to acquire Bone Care in an all-cash transaction valued at $33.00 per fully diluted share. The transaction remains subject to approval by Bone Care's shareholders at a meeting on June 30, and other customary closing conditions. The FTC decision will give them an early end to the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976.

With annual revenues exceeding $2 billion and more than 7,000 employees, Genzyme’s products and services are focused on rare inherited disorders, kidney disease, orthopedics, cancer, transplant and immune diseases, and diagnostic testing.

Bone Care’s current commercial and therapeutic focus is in nephrology, utilizing Hectorol, a novel vitamin D hormone therapy, to treat secondary hyperparathyroidism in patients with moderate to severe chronic kidney disease and end-stage renal disease. In addition to chronic kidney disease, the company is developing vitamin D hormone therapies to treat hyperproliferative disorders such as cancer and psoriasis.