Though Chinook Therapeutics’s headquarters is in Seattle, its research and development centre is in Vancouver. The pharmaceutical firm has two drugs to treat a rare kidney disease late in development—one in Phase 3 clinical trials and one that’s about to start. The deal could be worth up to US$3.5 billion, counting extra payments due “upon the achievement of certain future regulatory milestones” by the more advanced of the two, Chinook’s announcement said. (The Logic)

Talking point: The deal is the latest in a string of big-money acquisitions of Canadian drug developers with specialized products that are close to market. GSK is buying Quebec’s Bellus and its prospective treatment for chronic coughs for US$2 billion; other recent deals include buyouts of Baylis Medical Company, Trillium Therapeutics and Clementia, all worth US$1 billion or more. Getting a medical product from concept to regulatory approval takes years and often ends in expensive failure, so the purchase prices reflect how rare success is.