Onyx CEO dismisses rumors that Amgen alone is still in the hunt

Amgen ($AMGN) wants Onyx Pharmaceuticals ($ONXX) so much that it reportedly raised its bid this week 10 bucks a share to $130, valuing the company at $9.5 billion and driving out other interested parties. Not so, CEO Tony Coles said Thursday--at least the part about there not being any other potential buyers still in the auction.

Onyx CEO Tony Coles

Coles didn't name names, and he may just be trying to better his negotiating leverage with Amgen, but during a conference call Thursday he said, "The process is ongoing with multiple parties currently engaged in discussions," Bloomberg reported.

The whole deal started in June when Onyx rebuffed a $120-per-share bid from Amgen. That news drew interest from AstraZeneca ($AZN), Novartis ($NVS) and Pfizer ($PFE), Bloomberg has reported. This week, there were reports that Amgen had upped its bid by $10 a share, pushing others to the sidelines. The takeover rumors earlier drove Onyx' share price to $136, but it has since fallen back, trading off early today at $127.11.

The draw in all of this is blood-cancer treatment Kyprolis. It is forecast to hit sales of $1 billion by 2016 and as much as $3 billion by 2022. Onyx also gets royalties on drugs it markets in partnership with Bayer--the liver cancer treatment Nexavar and stomach cancer therapy Stivarga.

All of the heated interest is for a company that Thursday reported revenues of $153 million for the quarter and a loss of $29 million, or 40 cents a share. Sales of Kyprolis were $61 million for the quarter, the company reported.

- here's the earnings release
- see the Bloomberg story

Special Reports: Tony Coles - The 25 most influential people in biopharma today - 2013 | Kyprolis - Top 20 orphan drugs by 2018