Astellas and CoMentis

Astellas took the lead in another deal- Japanese pharmaceutical companies, relatively small by the standards of U.S. drugmakers, have been on an acquisition tear, trying to build more of a global presence. Recently, for instance, Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. acquired genomics pioneer Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and Eisai Co. bought oncology specialist MGI Pharma, Inc.

That dynamic worked well for Alzheimer drug developer CoMentis, Inc., based in South San Francisco, which struck a deal with Astellas in April. Unlike many biotech companies, CoMentis was willing to bide its time for the right offer, says Robert Jones, a partner at Cooley Godward Kronish and lead outside counsel for CoMentis. Outside counsel got involved in efforts to sell the company in August 2007, but the deal didn’t close until April 2008. Eight months “is a long period of time” in an auction situation, but Jones says CoMentis was willing to give potential bidders plenty of time to complete their due diligence.