Global healthcare giant Sanofi, which has had a long-term presence in the Cambridge science & technology cluster through its acquisition of Genzyme, has made a $9.3 billion takeover bid for San Francisco prostate cancer specialist Medivation Inc.

The cash offer equates to $52.50 per share and supports Sanofi’s expansion strategy in oncology and represents a premium of more than 50 per cent to Medivation’s two-month volume weighted average price prior to there being takeover rumours. Sanofi is quoted in Paris and on Wall Street and owns Sanofi Genzyme in Haverhill.

CEO Olivier Brandicourt has written to his Medivation counterpart David Hung setting out the potential power of the alliance. “With Medivation’s best-in-class offerings in prostate cancer, we believe a combination would benefit patients and, at the same time, generate value for shareholders of both companies,” he has written.

NASDAQ-quoted Medivation is a San Francisco-based biopharmaceutical company with one marketed prostate cancer therapy, Xtandi®, and two additional oncology assets in clinical development. Sanofi has a significant presence in prostate cancer and a strong heritage in oncology.

Despite advances in cancer treatments there remains a significant unmet medical need for prostate cancer, which is the second most common cancer in men worldwide, behind lung cancer.

Approximately one in seven men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during their lifetime. The transaction would create a stronger company with a complementary range of offerings to treat prostate cancer across the continuum of care, from urologists to oncologists.

Sanofi said the proposed combination has an attractive financial rationale as it would be immediately accretive to earnings and would offer value creation opportunities for Sanofi shareholders.