(Reuters) - Celgene Corp's (>> Celgene Corporation) effort to reduce dependence on its flagship cancer drug through the $7.2 billion (4.6 billion pounds) bet on Receptos Inc's (>> Receptos Inc) potential blockbuster drug won the backing of Wall Street.

Shares of Celgene and Receptos rose as much as 11 percent to record highs on Wednesday.

Cowen & Co's Eric Schmidt said the deal could be a "steal" for Celgene, if Receptos' ozinamod proves successful, while Baird Equity Research's Brian Skorney drew parallels to Gilead Sciences Inc (>> Gilead Sciences, Inc.) acquisition of Pharmasset Inc in 2011.

Gilead spent $11 billion to buy Pharmasset and its portfolio of experimental hepatitis C treatments, which now command a sizable portion of the U.S. market under the brands Sovaldi and Harvoni.

Celgene's offer to buy Receptos comes just under three weeks after it said it would invest $1 billion in Juno Therapeutics Inc (>> Juno Therapeutics Inc), which is developing cancer treatments that belong to a new class of therapies.

Healthcare sector has seen a record wave of deal-making since the start of 2014, stretching from large drugmakers buying up smaller rivals to consolidation among makers of generic medicines and tie-ups between insurers.

Buying Receptos gives Celgene access to ozinamod, a product that it estimates to have peak annual sales of $4-$6 billion in treating ulcerative colitis and multiple sclerosis.

Celgene's Revlimid had worldwide sales of $1.34 billion in the first quarter.

Celgene receives about 60 percent of revenue from Revlimid but the multiple myeloma drug's patents have been challenged in United States and Europe.

Tuesday's deal dilutes concerns over potential generic threat to the cancer treatment, analysts wrote.

"We like the fact that ozinamod is a largely derisked asset with large commercial potential that is capable of augmenting longer-term growth...," Schmidt wrote.

Barclays Capital's Geoff Meacham called the deal price "fair," with Nomura analysts adding that the price represented a steep discount relative to recent deals.

Celgene shares rose to $135.98 while Receptos rose to $229.44.

(Reporting by Vidya L Nathan in Bengaluru; Editing by Don Sebastian)