Another payday for Eshelman?

• Position: TRIANGLE REGION - Forest Laboratories acquires Furiex Pharmaceuticals

The founder of Furiex Pharmaceuticals could make more than $372 million when New York-based Forest Laboratories acquires the Morrisville company in a deal that may total $1.5 billion. Forest is offering about $1.1 billion for Furiex, plus more if the Food and Drug Administration approves its treatment for irritable bowel syndrome. On March 31, Fred Eshelman controlled 27% of 24-employee Furiex, which was spun out of Wilmington-based contract-research organization Pharmaceutical Product Development in 2010. Eshelman founded PPD in 1985 as a one-man startup. The deal would be the third-largest acquisition involving a North Carolina pharmaceutical company this year. It would mark a second big payout for Eshelman, who made more than $275 million when Washington, D.C.-based The Carlyle Group and Sdn Francisco-based Heilman & Friedman acquired PPD for $3.9 billion in 2011. The Furiex transaction is expected to close in the third quarter pending regulatory and shareholder approval.

wheeling and dealing The largest...