Biogen soars on takeover talk from Merck and Allergan

Shares of US biotech firm Biogen (Nasdaq: BIIB) rose as much as 10.5% on Tuesday, after a report from the Wall Street Journal said that it was the subject of takeover discussions, citing people familiar with the matter.

US pharma giant Merck & Co (NYSE: MRK) and Ireland-headquartered Allergan (NYSE: ACT), which has just completed its $40.5 billion sales of its generics business to Teva, were said to have had preliminary discussion with a view to an acquisition of Biogen, the WSJ stated, albeit such talks were informal and preliminary.

Speculation about Biogen’s future has escalated since the company announced, along with its strong second-quarter financial results, that its chief executive George Scangos would be stepping down from the post. There has also been talk that Biogen itself could make a major acquisition.