Astellas may pay more for OSI

DEERFIELD - OSI Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s status as one of the few U.S. biotechnology companies with income from an approved cancer drug likely will drive up the price Tokyo-based Astellas Pharma Inc. must pay to acquire it, analysts said.

OSI stock has surged above Astellas's $52-a-share bid as investors anticipate a higher offer.

Astellas, which has bought rights to four experimental cancer drugs since 2007, could use OSI to shepherd those therapies through U.S. approval, experts said, and could use OSI's 50-person sales force to promote new medicines.

Astellas needs new products to replenish revenue, they said.