InterMune’s (ITMN) stock rose 14 percent last Wednesday, closing at a 14-year high of $52.06, on rumors that big pharma is lining up to bid for the fledgling drugmaker and its putative blockbuster treatment for a rare, fatal lung disease called idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Wall Street genuflecting on the blockbuster potential for the IPF drug, called Esbriet (pirfenidone), has driven ITMN’s stock up more than 260% in the past year. Absent a takeover – or even with an alleged M&A deal in the offing – one has to question whether this one-product company is really worth more than $5.8 billion, where the market is pricing a deal.
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