This Week in Biotech: Celgene Corporation (CELG) Biogen Idec Inc. (BIIB)

Biogen Idec Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB) made waves earlier this week, when it broke out its wallet to fork over $3.25 billion to Elan Corporation, plc (ADR) (NYSE:ELN) to gain full rights to multiple sclerosis wonder drug Tysabri. Currently, Biogen and Elan share revenue on Tysabri down the middle, but the $3.25 billion will allow Elan to focus on researching its next therapies while giving Biogen full rein over Tysabri sales going forward. All told, it’s probably a better deal for Biogen over the long term, and unsurprisingly, the company received a timely upgrade from Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) early Friday morning to “buy” from “neutral,” with a $187 price target.

Finally, Protalix BioTherapeutics Inc. (NYSEMKT:PLX)‘ shares surged earlier in the week after confirming reports that it’s hired Citigroup to help with its strategic review. Israeli-based website Calcalist also posted that Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) has shown interest in purchasing Protalix — which would make sense, since they jointly developed Elelyso, an FDA-approved Gaucher disease drug — but it won’t pay the premium that Protalix is requesting. Understandably, with orphan drugs carrying such large price tags, Pfizer needs to be careful not to overpay for Protalix, especially if physicians and patients resist the hefty price tag.

The article This Week in Biotech originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Sean Williams.

Fool contributor Sean Williams has no material interest in any companies mentioned in this article. You can follow him on CAPS under the screen name TMFUltraLong, track every pick he makes under the screen name TrackUltraLong, and check him out on Twitter, where he goes by the handle @TMFUltraLong. The Motley Fool owns shares of Citigroup.

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