Bristol-Myers Squibb commences tender offer for ZymoGenetics

NEW YORK Bristol-Myers Squibb formally has begun its tender offer for biotech company ZymoGenetics, the drug maker said Friday.

Bristol-Myers Squibb announced its intent to acquire the Seattle-based company earlier this week for $885 million, or $9.75 per share.

The buyout, approved by the boards of both companies, gives Bristol-Myers Squibb ownership of Recothrom, a drug used to control bleeding during surgical procedures, and pegylated-interferon lambda, a treatment for hepatitis C that is in mid-stage clinical trials that the two companies had been developing. ZymoGenetics also had been developing IL-21, a treatment in mid-stage trials for melanoma .