Japan's Astellas to buy Audentes for $3 billion in gene therapy push

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Astellas Pharma Inc has agreed to buy Audentes Therapeutics Inc for about $3 billion in cash as it seeks to make genetic medicines a key area of growth. Gene therapies are one of the hottest areas of drug research and Astellas, Japan's second-largest drugmaker by sales, is offering $60 per share for San Francisco-based Audentes, a 110% premium to its closing price on Monday.Citi analyst Hidemaru Yamaguchi said that while the deal looked expensive, it was a positive..