After being overshadowed last year by the boom in big pharmaceutical mergers, biotechnology deals are kicking off 2015.
The first large drug transaction of the year was Shire Plc’s agreement Sunday to buy rare-disease treatment developer NPS Pharmaceuticals Inc. for $5.2 billion. Biogen Idec Inc. also struck a deal of up to $675 million for a company with an experimental pain medicine. More takeovers of young companies with promising new remedies may follow as drugmakers look for ways to stoke growth.
