Pharma & Biotech Mergers & Acquisitions News
Pharmaceutical
Full mergers and acquisitions in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology in 2024 fluctuated throughout the year with hardly any in some months and a significant number in other. But one thing was clear – buyers were shying away from big bets on commercially ready medicines in favor of earlier stage drug developers. 3 January 2025
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Pharmaceutical
German drugmaker Riemser Arzneimittel AG is extending its range of supportive cancer therapy products by purchasing the world-wide rights to Swiss drug major Roche's (ROG: SIX) Ostac (clodronic acid), a drug used in chemotherapy regimens for the treatment of metastatic bone lesions. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. 15 February 2012
Pharmaceutical
USA-based regenerative wound care specialist Cytomedix (OTC.BB: CMXI.OB) said yesterday that it has completed the acquisition of Aldagen, a privately-held US biopharmaceutical company developing regenerative cell therapies based on its proprietary ALDH bright cell (ALDHbr) technology, which has twice dropped an initial public offering (IPO) because of negative market conditions. 10 February 2012
Pharmaceutical
Having thoroughly reviewed Swiss drug and diagnostics major Roche's (ROG: SIX) hostile takeover bid, USA-based Illumina (Nasdaq: ILMN) says its board of directors has unanimously determined that the unsolicited $44.50 per share - around $5.7 billion in total - cash offer (The Pharma Letter January 25) is 'grossly inadequate in multiple respects, dramatically undervalues Illumina and is contrary to the best interests of Illumina's stockholders.' 8 February 2012
Pharmaceutical
Acquisitive Canadian drugmaker Valeant Pharmaceuticals International (TSX: VRX) says that it has withdrawn its increased offer to acquire US ophthalmic and allergy specialist ISTA Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: ISTA) for $7.50 per share in cash. 31 January 2012
Pharmaceutical
Responding to Swiss drug major Roche's (ROG: SIX) hostile takeover over offer of $44.50 per share for US DNA sequencing firm Illumina (Nasdaq: ILMN) the latter has agreed to review the proposal valuing the company at around $5.7 billion and come up with recommendations to shareholders in due course (The Pharma Letter January 25). 27 January 2012
Pharmaceutical
USA-based Spectrum Pharmaceuticals (NasdaqGS: SPPI) says it has entered into an agreement to acquire licensing rights to market Zevalin (ibritumomab tiuxetan) injection for intravenous use outside of the USA from Bayer Healthcare, a unit of Germany's Bayer AG (BAY: DE). Financial terms of the transaction were not revealed. 26 January 2012
Pharmaceutical
Swiss drugs and diagnostic major Roche (ROG: SIX) announced this morning that it is proposing to acquire all outstanding shares of Illumina, (Nasdaq: ILMN), a USA-based provider of integrated systems for DNA sequencing, for $44.50 per share in cash, or an aggregate of approximately $5.7 billion on a fully diluted basis. The Roche moves comes despite the US firm's reluctance to enter discussions. 25 January 2012
Pharmaceutical
Florida, USA-based OPKO Health (NYSE: OPK) had a busy day yesterday, entering into a definitive agreement to acquire ALS Distribuidora Limitada (ALS), a privately-held Chilean pharmaceutical company engaged in the business of importation, commercialization and distribution of pharmaceutical products for private markets, as well as gaining exclusive rights to two biomarkers from a Finnish company. 24 January 2012
Pharmaceutical
California, USA-based XOMA Corp (Nasdaq: XOMA) says it has acquired US rights to the perindopril franchise from France's Laboratoires Servier, XOMA's partner for its lead product candidate, gevokizumab (formerly XOMA 052), which failed in mid-stage trials but is now being studied by the US firm as an acne treatment and for the non-infectious form of the eye disease uveitis. 18 January 2012
Pharmaceutical
As the global pharmaceutical industry faces a third (35%) of its 20 best-selling prescription medicines' patents expiring in the next two years in the USA - with half already off patent - the value of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the sector surged in 2011 to $224 billion, the highest level recorded since 2007 according to research*conducted by international law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. 18 January 2012
Pharmaceutical
California, USA-based ophthalmology and allergy drug company ISTA Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: ISTA) says that, following a recent meeting with top executives of Canada's Valeant Pharmaceuticals (TSK: VRX), it has received a revised non-binding proposal from Valeant to acquire ISTA and will consider this as part of its ongoing review of strategic options. 17 January 2012
Pharmaceutical
US drugs giant Merck & Co (NYSE: MRK) aims to become a leader in the hepatitis C space, the company's global head of licensing and acquisitions Roger Pomerantz said in an interview with the Bloomberg news service during the J P Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco, USA, this week. 12 January 2012
Pharmaceutical
Ireland-headquartered specialty biopharma firm Shire (LSE: SHP) says that it has acquired the rights to develop and market Resolor (prucalopride) in the USA in an agreement with Janssen Pharmaceutica, a subsidiary of US health care giant Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ). Terms of the agreement have not been disclosed. 10 January 2012
Pharmaceutical
The founding shareholders in BioLigands ApS together with UK based biotech Bridge BioResearch have taken over the equity previously held by Southern Danish Innovation. BioLigands was founded in 2002 and is based in Odense M, Denmark 9 January 2012
Pharmaceutical
Looking to bolster its drug pipeline in the face of US patent expiry of one of its best selling drugs, the blood thinner Plavix (clopidogrel, co-marketed with originator Sanofi), drug major Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) revealed on Saturday that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire fellow USA-based Inhibitex (Nasdaq: INHX), a developer of hepatitis C treatments, for $26.00 per share, a massive 163% premium to the latter's closing price on Friday. 9 January 2012
Pharmaceutical
US specialty drugmaker Cornerstone Therapeutics (Nasdaq: CRTX) said yesterday that it has acquired Cardiokine, a privately-held specialty pharmaceutical company focused on developing hospital products for cardiovascular indications. The merger, financial terms of which were not revealed, was effective December 30, 2011, said Cornerstone. 4 January 2012
Pharmaceutical
Scientific enterprise R&D software and services company Accelrys (Nasdaq: ACCL) says that it has acquired fellow USA-based privately-held VelQuest Corp for $35 million in an all-cash transaction. 4 January 2012
Pharmaceutical
German drugmaker STADA Arzneimittel AG (SAZ: GR) says it has exercised its contractual right to withdraw from the purchase of a branded product portfolio from family-owned German pharma company Grunenthal for European Union markets in Central Europe (including Poland, etc), after the responsible anti-trust authorities had not approved the agreed transaction prior to the expiry of the contractually agreed so-called 'long stop date' (as of December 31, 2011). 4 January 2012
Pharmaceutical
US drugmaker Alexion Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: ALXN) has reached agreement to acquire privately held Canadian firm Enobia Pharma, which is focused on the development of therapies to treat patients with ultra-rare and life-threatening genetic metabolic disorders, for a consideration that could reach as much as $1.08 billion. 30 December 2011
Pharmaceutical
Apricus Biosciences (Nasdaq: APRI) has closed its previously-announced acquisition of Topotarget USA, a subsidiary of Denmark's Topotarget A/S (TOPO: CO). As a result, the Rockaway, New Jersey-based company becomes a wholly-owned subsidiary of Apricus and is being renamed as Apricus Pharmaceuticals USA Inc. 30 December 2011
Pharmaceutical
Immedica Pharma, a Swedish company specializing in rare diseases, has announced its acquisition of Marinus Pharmaceuticals in a deal valued at $151 million. The agreement, finalized through a cash tender offer, marks a significant expansion of Immedica’s presence in the US market. 6 January 2025
Pharmaceutical
Full mergers and acquisitions in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology in 2024 fluctuated throughout the year with hardly any in some months and a significant number in other. But one thing was clear – buyers were shying away from big bets on commercially ready medicines in favor of earlier stage drug developers. 3 January 2025
Pharmaceutical
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals has acquired UK-based biotech Oxular, enhancing its gene therapy development program with the firm’s specialized ocular delivery tech. 3 January 2025
Pharmaceutical
Denmark-based diabetes and obesity giant Novo Nordisk says it plans to invest 8.5 billion Danish kroner ($1.2 billion) to establish a completely new production facility in Odense, Denmark. 16 December 2024
Pharmaceutical
The pharmaceutical and life sciences industry is gearing up for what analysts at PwC predict will be a highly active year for mergers and acquisitions in 2025, following a mixed performance in 2024. 13 December 2024
Pharmaceutical
Canada-headquartered Bausch + Lomb Corporation, a leading global eye health company, on Thursday confirmed reports that it is exploring a potential sale, acting in response to a request from the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO). 13 December 2024
Pharmaceutical
UK-based Tenpoint Therapeutics and Seattle’s Visus Therapeutics have announced the completion of their merger to create an entirely new chapter in ophthalmic therapeutic medicines aimed at rejuvenating the aging eye. 12 December 2024
Pharmaceutical
The European Commission has approved unconditionally, under the EU Merger Regulation, the proposed acquisition of contract development and manufacture organization (CDMO) Catalent (NYSE: MCTLT) by Denmark’s Novo Holdings. 7 December 2024
Pharmaceutical
GE Healthcare has announced plans to acquire from Sumitomo Chemical the half of Nihon Medi-Physics (NMP) that it doesn’t own. 5 December 2024
Pharmaceutical
Germany’s Evotec has said its chief operating officer Craig Johnstone will leave the business at the end of the year. 29 November 2024
Pharmaceutical
Munich, Germany headquartered contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) Adragos Pharma has acquired Baccinex, a Swiss-based expert in aseptic fill-finish manufacturing. 28 November 2024
Pharmaceutical
The board of Spanish plasma-based medicines producer Grifols has announced the termination of discussions with Brookfield Capital Partners (UK) regarding a potential acquisition of Grifols shares. 28 November 2024
Pharmaceutical
Swiss pharma giant Novartis today announced an upgrade to its mid-term guidance, in advance of its Meet Novartis Management event for investors and analysts in London. 21 November 2024
Pharmaceutical
Big pharmas are not deterred by China’s increasingly complex business environment. Instead, they are changing strategies to minimize risks while continuing to benefit from China, said speakers at ChinaTrials held last week in Shanghai. 18 November 2024
Pharmaceutical
Life science investor Syncona has announced the launch of its newest portfolio company, Slingshot Therapeutics, through the Syncona Accelerator initiative. 14 November 2024
Pharmaceutical
European regulators will decide by December 6 whether Novo Holdings, the controlling shareholder of Danish pharma giant Novo Nordisk, can finalize its $16.5 billion acquisition of contract drug manufacturer Catalent. 5 November 2024
Pharmaceutical
Pharmaceutical M&A came back with a bang during October, after a quiet September. 5 November 2024
Pharmaceutical
US pharma major AbbVie last week proposed $1.4 billion acquisition of US CNS drug developer Aliada Therapeutics. Last week saw a bunch of third quarter 2024 financials results, among which were Elil Lilly, AbbVie and Merck & Co. Also of note, Lexicon’s type I diabetes drug Zynquista faced a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory committee review that resulted in largely negative vote against recommendation. 3 November 2024
Pharmaceutical
Melbourne, Australia-based Telix Pharmaceuticals has announced the launch of Rhine Pharma, a subsidiary aimed at increasing global access to radiopharmaceuticals for cancer treatment and imaging. 22 October 2024
Pharmaceutical
French pharma major Sanofi has opened negotiations to sell a 50% controlling stake in its consumer health business Opella to US private equity firm Clayton Dubilier & Rice (CD&R). 21 October 2024
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