Steven A. Cohen Raises His InterMune Stake To 8.2%

Hedge fund giant Steven A. Cohen reported an 8.2% stake in InterMune Inc. (ITMN), in a bet that the small drug company's lung-disease treatment will get Food and Drug Administration approval in early May.

Cohen's stake, currently valued at about $207.4 million, comes as the stock hit eight-year highs in late March after a panel recommended that the FDA approve pirfenidone, something that has also attracted takeover speculation on Wall Street.

Shares of the Brisbane, Calif., drug developer have more than tripled since early March, closing Monday at $46.44.

Cohen previously reported a stake of only 160,607 shares, or 0.34% of the outstanding shares, at the end of 2009. His filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission last Thursday was triggered by buying on March 22 that sent him over the 5% threshold on the stock. The stake is held by several of his funds.

Several other hedge funds already own large stakes in the company, and Wayne Holman's Ridgeback Capital disclosed that it bought a 5.1% stake in early March.

InterMune is seeking FDA approval for pirfenidone, which was developed to treat a lung condition known as idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, the thickening and scarring of lung tissue.

InterMune owns all the rights to the drug, which has a proposed brand name of Esbriet and would enter an area with little competition and the potential to garner sales of more than a billion dollars a year.

Analysts have pointed to a potential deal for the company from larger companies, naming Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD) and Roche Holding AG (RHHBY, ROG.VX) among potential suitors.

-By Thomas Gryta, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2169; thomas.gryta@dowjones.com

(Joseph Checkler contributed to this report)

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