Chiron’s Shares Rise 20% on News of Possible Deal : Pharmaceuticals: Its share price jumps $11.75 on a report that Ciba-Geigy might buy a stake in the biotechnology firm.

Chiron Corp.’s share price soared as much as 32% Friday after the Emeryville-based biotechnology company said it was discussing a possible deal for another company to acquire a “substantial” minority stake in Chiron.

The stock peaked at $79 in Nasdaq trading before closing at $71.50--up $11.75, or nearly 20%--on speculation that the talks might lead to Chiron being taken over by Ciba-Geigy, a Swiss pharmaceutical and chemicals firm.

“It’s possible that this could be a large minority stake now with an agreement to buy Chiron later,” said David S. Webber, a New York-based analyst for Alex. Brown & Sons of Baltimore.

The two companies each own 50% of vaccine makers Biocine Co. in the United States and Biocine in Italy.

Chiron, whose products include the drug Betaseron used in the treatment of multiple sclerosis, declined to say whom it is negotiating with, or when or if a transaction will occur.

“We have been in discussions for a while,” company spokesman Larry Kurtz said.

The biotech industry has been consolidating in recent months, in part because of the failures of some highly touted products and a shortage of money to invest in new product development.

Additionally, some large traditional pharmaceutical firms have been looking to buy successful biotech businesses to strengthen their own product development.

Chiron is a likely takeover prospect, analyst say, because it has products on the market and promising ones, such as a drug to treat AIDS-related problems, in development.

Some analysts said Chiron could be following the trend of biotech companies that seek out alliances with large pharmaceutical companies to ensure their products access to a large market.

“A large cash infusion and a strategic partner increase the probability to get their products on the market,” said Steve Burrill, chief executive and managing director of Burrill and Craves, a San Francisco-based private merchant bank that focuses on biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies.

Another possibility, said David K. Stone, the Boston-based managing director and biotech analyst with Cowen & Co. of New York, is that Chiron is attempting to raise money to acquire more vaccine products.

“It sounds more like Chiron would be selling stock to raise cash for a venture that would be beneficial to both (Chiron and Ciba-Geigy),” Stone said.

Chiron agreed Thursday to buy tetanus and diphtheria vaccine product lines from American Home Products Corp.