Unable to Get Prized Cow, Guidant Buys Cook's Farm--Maybe

After apparently exhausting every other means of obtaining access to the drug it needs to enter the drug-eluting stent market as quickly as possible, Guidant's decision to acquire Cook Group for $3 billion hinges on whether a Federal judge agrees with Guidant's argument that the deal doesn't result in an ownership change of the Cook Group's Cook Inc. subsidiary.

After apparently exhausting every other means of obtaining access to the drug it needs to enter the drug-eluting stent (DES) market as quickly as possible, Guidant Corp. 's decision to acquire Cook Group Inc. for $3 billion depends on whether a Federal judge agrees with Guidant's argument that the deal doesn't result in an ownership change of the Cook Group's Cook Inc. subsidiary [See Deal]. The Guidant-Cook deal is the latest chapter in a stormy litigation cycle centered on a 1997 agreement in which Angiotech Pharmaceuticals Inc. licensed co-exclusive rights to the use of its paclitaxel drug in the stent market to both Cook Inc. [See Deal] and Boston Scientific Corp. [See Deal]

The licensing agreement reportedly includes a provision by which the other licensee can block the new owner from obtaining rights...

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