UPDATE 1-Crucell shares surge on Wyeth takeover talks

* Value may reach 1.3 billion euros or more

* Crucell shares at 16-month high on Wyeth talks

* Talks may trigger bidding war

(Adds analyst comment, background, updates shares)

By Harro ten Wolde

AMSTERDAM, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Shares in Dutch biotechnology firm Crucell (CRCL.AS: Quote, Profile, Research) rose 35 percent on Thursday after the company said it was in talks with U.S. drug maker Wyeth WYE.N about a takeover of the Leiden-based company.

"My impression is Crucell will play hard to get and eventually Sanofi or Novartis will appear in the stage," Petercam analyst Jan van den Bossche said.

Crucell, which was valued at 757 million euros ($1 billion) before news of merger talks hit, is seen fetching at least 1.3 billion euros. Crucell said late on Wednesday that discussions were at a preliminary stage. [ID:nN07501131]

The bid for Crucell underlines the big drug companies' growing appetite for vaccines -- once viewed as a low-margin, slow-growing business -- but now offering some of the best prospects for promising new products.