Spectrum Pharmaceuticals has agreed to buy the cancer drug developer Allos Therapeutics for US$1.82 per share in cash, which represents a 27% premium over Allos’ closing price prior to the announcement of the transaction. Allos shareholders will also receive a contingent value right that entitles them to a cash payment of US$0.11 per share if certain European regulatory approval and commercialisation milestones for Allos’ lead cancer drug Folotyn® (pralatrexate injection) are achieved. The deal was announced just minutes after Spectrum disclosed that its bladder cancer drug apaziquone had failed to meet its primary end-point in two Phase III trials.