Japanese company extends OSI hostile takeover bid

Japanese pharmaceutical company Astellas Pharma Inc. has extended for another three weeks its $52-per-share hostile takeover bid of Melville-based OSI Pharmaceuticals. Astellas' offer had been set to expire at midnight yesterday.

OSI, which is moving to Westchester County, makes the successful anti-lung cancer drug Tarceva. Its board said the Astellas offer "does not fully reflect OSI's fundamental, intrinsic value."

The cash offer by Deerfield, Ill.- based Astellas U.S. Holding Inc., a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Astellas Pharma Inc., caused OSI shares to soar more than 40 percent in early March. OSI closed down 51 cents yesterday to $59.55.