Valeant to sell Dendreon to China’s Sanpower for $819.9m

Canada’s Valeant Pharmaceuticals’ affiliate has entered into an agreement to sell its equity interests in Dendreon Pharmaceuticals to China’s Sanpower Group for $819.9m.

Dendreon's Provenge was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in April 2010 and is an autologous cellular immunotherapy (vaccine) for prostate cancer treatment.

Valeant Pharmaceuticals CEO Joseph Papa said: "With this sale, we are better aligning our product portfolio with Valeant's new operating strategy by exiting the urological oncology business, which is one of our non-core assets.

"We are pleased to take this step forward in our divestiture programme and are continuing to evaluate transactions to simplify our business and strengthen our balance sheet."

Provenge is an immunotherapy that takes the patient’s own immune cells and reprogrammes them to attack the advanced prostate cancer.

By jumpstarting immune cells already in the body, it helps the patient to fight against cancer.

Valeant plans to use proceeds from the sale of Dendreon to repay term loan debt permanently under its senior secured credit facility.

The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including receipt of applicable regulatory approvals and is slated for completion in the first half of this year.

Valeant develops, manufactures and markets a range of pharmaceutical products primarily in the areas of dermatology, gastrointestinal disorders, eye health, neurology and branded generics.