NEW YORK - Trading of Biogen Idec Inc. options jumped to 15 times the four-week average yesterday on speculation the world’s largest maker of multiple sclerosis drugs may be acquired by Johnson & Johnson.
Volume for call options giving the right to buy the stock surged to 59,779, the most in almost six months.
The shares gained 1.7 percent to reach $51.41. The most active contracts were October $55 calls, which more than doubled.
Biogen shares have not closed above $55 since July 2008.
“There’s heavy buying, and it’s a reaction to renewed takeover speculation, with Johnson & Johnson mentioned this time,’’ said Frederic Ruffy, a senior options strategist at WhatsTrading.com, a New York City provider of options market analysis.
“It’s unsubstantiated talk, but investors are focused on short-term, out-of-the-money calls, which offer a cheap way to participate if the stock moves higher,’’ he said.
Demand is increasing for Tysabri, Biogen Idec’s fastest-growing product.
Tysabri revenue rose 10 percent in the second quarter, to $1.09 billion, as more patients were treated with the drug, which Biogen, of Cambridge, Mass., markets with Dublin-based Elan Corp. Johnson & Johnson is paying $885 million for an 18.4 percent stake in Elan.
Spokespeople for Biogen Idec and Johnson & Johnson, of New Brunswick, N.J., said the companies do not comment on market speculation.
“Biogen has been tossed around as a [merger] target for years,’’ said Graig Suvannavejh, cofounder of Axon Healthcare Partners, a New York health care investment adviser. “It’s often viewed as a target that one of the pharmaceutical companies might buy.’’
Biogen Idec call trading reached a record 68,758 contracts on April 7, when the shares advanced 5 percent on speculation that it may be bought by Paris-based Sanofi-Aventis SA, France’s largest drug maker.
