NEW YORK (Reuters) - Pfizer Inc decided not to pursue a bid for Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc this week, according to two people familiar with the matter, leaving Amgen Inc in the pole position to buy the cancer drugmaker with a market value of nearly $10 billion.
Onyx, which rejected Amgen's $120 per share bid and instead put itself up for sale on June 30, was expecting to receive first-round offers from a few interested parties as soon as this week, people familiar with the matter previously told Reuters.
Pfizer, among the drugmakers that have been evaluating a bid as recently as a few days ago, has decided not to move forward, mainly on concerns that Onyx has become too expensive after a recent run-up in its share price, the people said on Thursday.
The sources asked not to be named because details of the auction are not public. Pfizer and Onyx declined to comment. Amgen did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
(Reporting by Soyoung Kim in New York, additional reporting by Ben Hirschler in London and Deena Beasley in Los Angeles; Editing by Gary Hill)
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