The strategic impetus behind Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc. 's acquisition of Cor Therapeutics Inc. isn't as apparent as the driver for MedImmune Inc. 's deal for Aviron . (See "MedImmune Reaches for a Blockbuster," in this issue, , [A#2001800250) Nor can Millennium take advantage of the same market situation as did Cephalon Inc. , which recently purchased Groupe Lafon . (See "Biotechs' Holiday Shopping Spree—Buy, Buy, Buy," in this issue,, [A#2001800243) The Cambridge, MA-based technology integrator isn't valued on sales the way Cephalon is—one danger of the deal is that its valuation will shrink as analysts recalibrate their measuring sticks.
Indeed, in buying a company whose stock hasn't performed particularly well—because of the slowing growth of Cor's lead product, eptifibatide...