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Takeda Pharmaceutical Co Ltd said it would buy U.S. firm Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc for $8.8 billion to boost its cancer drug business, in the biggest overseas acquisition by a Japanese drugmaker.

The friendly cash offer of $25 per share — 53 percent above Millennium’s closing share price on Wednesday — is the latest example of accelerating M&A in the biotech sector as drugmakers scramble to secure promising technologies and pipelines developed by smaller firms.

Takeda, Japan’s largest drugmaker, has long been under pressure to use a $10 billion war chest to strengthen its pipeline before a U.S. patent on its top-selling diabetes drug, Actos, expires in 2011.

Developing cancer drug pipelines has been a top priority for Japanese drugmakers, which have been late to step into the lucrative business.

“I see this as a positive move http://payday-faxless.com. Major drug companies, including Takeda, need to develop new drugs before their patents expire,” said Kumi Miyauchi, a drug analyst at Daiwa Institute of Research.

“It is quicker to buy other companies that can develop new drugs rather than developing new products by themselves.”

The deal comes on the heels of rival Eisai Co Ltd’s $3.9 billion purchase of cancer specialist MGI Pharma Inc.

It also follows Takeda’s agreement with Abbott Laboratories last month to split their 50-50 joint venture TAP Pharmaceutical Products. 

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