Protein Design Increases ESP Price

Biotechnology firm Protein Design Labs has said it increased the price it will pay for ESP Pharma after the Edison, N.J.-based drugmaker acquired rights to a heart attack treatment. In late January, Protein Design Labs said it agreed to buy ESP for $300 million in cash and $175 million in stock. The company said it increased its purchase price by $25 million cash because of ESP's newly acquired rights of heart attack treatment Retavase, made by Johnson & Johnson unit Centocor.

Yahoo News (http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/050201/protein_design_esp_1.html)