News of Rejected $120/Share Bid from Amgen Moves Onyx Shares to New Highs; Leerink Says Deal Could Push Amgen to 'Critical Mass'

Shares of Onyx Pharma

are up more than 50 percent Monday morning following the announcement of a receipt and rejection of a $120 per share bid from Amgen

. Howard Liang, analyst at Leerink Swann, sees Onyx as an attractive target -- among a "limited number" of small to mid-cap companies with both a wholly owned product and a "big enough" revenue base. Liang believes the acquisition could help Amgen establish a hematology franchise and reach a "critical mass" in cancer therapeutics. Liang sees the acquisition contributing to Amgen's bottom line as soon as 2015 and believes this could help the company realize a $2 EPS increase by 2019.