A late-night bidding war for a Californian biotech company has taken the value of healthcare deals in the past 15 months to nearly half a trillion dollars in a fresh sign that sky-high valuations have not slowed the pace of pharmaceuticals dealmaking.
对美国加州一家生物科技公司的深夜竞标战，使过去15个月的医药业并购交易总值逼近5000亿美元，这一最新迹象表明，天价估值并未放缓制药业撮合交易的步伐。

AbbVie won the three-way fight over Pharmacyclics, a biotech company that makes a single cancer drug, with a $21bn offer that hinged on the opening of three envelopes, according to a person involved in the final discussions.
据参与最后讨论的一名人士透露，在围绕Pharmacyclics的三方竞标战中，随着3个信封的开启，艾伯维(AbbVie)以210亿美元的出价赢得胜利。Pharmacyclics是一家只生产一种抗癌药物的生物科技公司。
Johnson & Johnson was confident earlier in the evening that its offer would prevail but was beaten in one of the most competitive bidding wars for years. AbbVie yesterday unveiled the details of its $261.25-a-share purchase of Pharmacyclics, having at the eleventh hour seized victory from Johnson & Johnson and a third unidentified bidder.
强生(Johnson & Johnson)在晚间的早些时候曾确信它将赢得竞标，但最终在多年来竞争最激烈的一场竞标战中败下阵来。艾伯维昨日披露了以每股261.25美元收购Pharmacyclics的交易细节，它在最后一刻才击败强生和另一家未指明的竞标者。
AbbVie said the $21bn deal would be funded by 58 per cent in cash and the remainder in shares.
艾伯维表示，这宗210亿美元交易的具体方式将是58%的现金加上42%的股票。
The deal, which represents a premium of about 60 per cent over the level Pharmacyclics was trading at in early February, will provide further evidence for those who fear that pharma groups are paying too much for drugs as they try to stave off a “patent cliff” and competition from cheaper generic rivals.
收购价格相比Pharmacyclics股票2月初的价格有大约60%的溢价。该交易将为那些担心制药集团以过高价格收购新药的人提供进一步证据，目前各家药企正试图避免“专利悬崖”，并击败较为廉价的仿制药竞争对手的竞争。
Almost $70bn of mergers and acquisitions have been done in pharma and biotech so far this year, according to Thomson Reuters — more than double the level of activity seen by the same point in 2014 and the strongest start to a year in more than a decade.
汤森路透(Thomson Reuters)数据显示，今年迄今，制药和生物科技领域的并购交易已经达到近700亿美元，是去年同一时点的两倍多，也是十多年来最为强劲的开年。
Since the start of the year, Valeant has acquired gastrointestinal drugmaker Salix for $14.5bn, Pfizer bought Hospira for $17bn and Shire picked up NPS Pharma for $5.2bn.
自今年初以来，Valeant以145亿美元收购了胃肠药物制造商Salix，辉瑞(Pfizer)斥资170亿美元收购Hospira，而Shire以52亿美元收购了NPS Pharma。
Since January 2014 the healthcare sector has seen $475bn of deals.
自2014年1月以来，医药行业的并购交易总值已达到4750亿美元。
The latest deal followed a tense round of bidding on Wednesday night, when several people involved in the process predicted that J&J, which has had a partnership with Pharmacyclics since 2011, would end up winning the auction.
最新交易是在周三晚间经过一轮激烈的竞标之后达成的，多名参与这一过程的人士曾经预测，强生将胜出，因其自2011年以来一直与Pharmacyclics有合作关系。
In an interview with the Financial Times, Rick Gonzales, AbbVie chief executive, dismissed suggestions that it had overpaid. He said that once the rival bids had been disclosed, people would “conclude that all three players were within a relatively narrow range”.
艾伯维首席执行官里克•冈萨雷斯(Rick Gonzales)在接受英国《金融时报》采访时，对该公司出价过高的说法不以为然。他表示，一旦披露竞争对手的出价，人们将会“得出结论，这三家公司的出价都落在一个相对狭窄的区间内”。
“I’ve been through a lot of these [deals], and I’d say this was probably one of the most competitive ones I’ve seen,” he added, a sentiment echoed by several others working on the deal.
他补充称：“我经历过许多此类交易，我得说，这可能是我见过的竞争最为激烈的交易之一。”参与该交易的其他数位人士也有同感。
Shares in AbbVie fell by more than 4 per cent in early New York trading as investors reacted negatively, while some analysts questioned whether AbbVie had paid too much.
在纽约早盘交易中，艾伯维股价下跌逾4%，因为投资者对此反应消极，同时一些分析师质疑艾伯维是否出价过高。
Vamil Divan, an analyst at Credit Suisse, said the deal was strategically positive” but that “the lofty price tag leaves us with some questions”.
瑞信(Credit Suisse)分析师瓦米尔•迪万(Vamil Divan)表示，该交易在战略上是积极的，但“过高的价格让我们有一些疑虑”。
On a call with investors, Mr Gonzales predicted that Pharmacyclics’ Imbruvica drug, which is used to treat certain blood cancers, would achieve peak sales of $7bn, and that the deal would boost earnings by 60 cents a share in 2017.
冈萨雷斯在与投资者的电话会议中预测，Pharmacyclics生产的用于治疗某些血癌的Imbruvica药物将实现70亿美元的最高销售额，而该交易将让该公司2017年每股盈利增加60美分。
But AbbVie’s sales forecasts for Imbruvica are built on the assumption the drug will be approved for patients with earlier stage blood cancers, as well as those with melanoma and solid tumours. “The valuation seems to imply some degree of success for Imbruvica in other indications where there is limited data,” said Mr Divan.
但艾伯维对Imbruvica的销售预测建立在该药获批用于早期血癌病人以及患有黑素瘤和固体肿瘤的病人的基础之上。迪万表示：“这个估值似乎暗示，Imbruvica在其他领域取得了一定的成功，而这些领域目前数据有限。”