Esperion Therapeutics Inc

Pfizer Inc. has agreed to buy biopharmaceutical company Esperion Therapeutics Inc. and its promising new approach to reversing clogging of the arteries, the companies announced Sunday. Under the deal, Pfizer plans to acquire Esperion for $35 a share, or about $1.3 billion. That represents a 54% premium over Esperion's average closing share price during the last 20 trading days. Esperion shares closed at $22.70 on Friday on Nasdaq. Esperion, based in Ann Arbor, Mich.

Pfizer Inc. has agreed to buy biopharmaceutical company Esperion Therapeutics Inc. and its promising new approach to reversing clogging of the arteries, the companies announced Sunday. Under the deal, Pfizer plans to acquire Esperion for $35 a share, or about $1.3 billion. That represents a 54% premium over Esperion's average closing share price during the last 20 trading days. Esperion shares closed at $22.70 on Friday on Nasdaq. Esperion, based in Ann Arbor, Mich.

Pfizer Inc. sold Esperion Therapeutics Inc., a company it bought for $1.3 billion more than four years ago, to a group of venture capital firms that are investing $22.8 million in the company. Aisling Capital, Alta Partners and Domain Associates led the financing, which Pfizer will share in return for a stake in the company. The terms of the deal weren't disclosed.

Pfizer Inc. on Thursday said that it planned to buy Vicuron Pharmaceuticals Inc., a biotechnology company with two promising infection treatments that could soon receive regulatory approval, for $1.9 billion in cash. Pfizer hopes the acquisition will help it offset lost sales from its anti-fungal treatment Diflucan, which recently lost patent protection, and an expected slide in sales of its antibiotic Zithromax, which could face generic competition later this year.

Traditionally a quiet month for initial public offerings, August is shaping up as the busiest month this year and the busiest August since 1983. But investors hoping to make a killing in August's new issues have been mostly disappointed: IPOs aren't popping on their first days as they were earlier this year, even though some companies selling shares this month are doing so at marked-down prices to entice buyers. That could be good news, though, for investors with a longer time horizon.

A small clinical trial has shown for the first time that it is possible to use drugs to remove plaque from clogged arteries, a finding that could lead to radically new ways of treating heart disease, the No. 1 killer in the United States. Infusions of a genetically engineered mutant form of high-density lipoprotein, the so-called good cholesterol, over a five-week period were shown to reduce plaque volume in patients suffering from chest pain.