Medivation Agrees to Open Its Books to Sanofi

U.S. cancer drug company Medivation Inc  said on Tuesday it had agreed to provide confidential information to French pharmaceutical company Sanofi SA as part of exploring a sale that would be open to other bidders. San Francisco-based Medivation shares jumped as much as 4.2 percent after Reuters first reported that Medivation and Sanofi were in talks over a confidentiality pact, adding to similar agreements Medivation has with Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) and Celgene Corp (CELG.O), which have also expressed interest in an acquisition. The move comes after Medivation rejected Sanofi’s $9.3 billion offer in April, prompting Sanofi to embark on a campaign to convince Medivation shareholders to oust Medivation’s board of directors and replace them with its nominees in a so-called written consent process.