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Ligand Buys Metabasis For $3.2M

San Diego-based Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: LGND) said today it has agreed to pay $3.2 million to acquire Metabasis (NASDAQ: MBRX), the developer of treatments for diabetes and high cholesterol. Ligand has also committed $8 million to finance Metabasis’ drug development programs within the next 42 months. The sale comes after a rough year for Metabasis, in which it ran low on cash, warned investors it might have to shut down, and CEO Mark Erion resigned for a new job at Merck.

Luke Timmerman is the National Biotechnology Editor for Xconomy. You can e-mail him at ltimmerman@xconomy.com, call 206-624-2374, or follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/ldtimmerman.

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