Pharma & Biotech Mergers & Acquisitions News
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
Today's issue
Refine Search
Latest Mergers & Acquisitions News & Features
Pharmaceutical
This morning saw a flurry of acquisition announcements by pharma companies. First up, Italy's Newron Pharmaceuticals (SIX: NWRN) revealed that it has signed an agreement with the key shareholders of Stockholm-based privately-owned NeuroNova for the acquisition of up to 100% of its shares, in an all-share transaction valuing NeuroNova at 15.4 million euros ($19.2 million) at closing share price June 11, 2012). 13 June 2012
Generics
US pharma major Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY) says it will increase of its network of manufacturing capabilities in the key emerging market of China through an expanded collaboration with Novast Laboratories, a generic and specialty pharmaceutical company based in Nantong, China, which has established high-quality systems and manufacturing facilities for the global and domestic Chinese markets. 13 June 2012
Pharmaceutical
The US Federal Trade Commission will require health care giant Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) to sell its system for surgically treating serious wrist fractures, resolving charges that J&J's proposed $21.3 billion acquisition of Switzerland-headquartered Synthes (The Pharma Letter April 27, 2011) would illegally reduce competition for these systems. 12 June 2012
Biotechnology
In the continuing saga of its hostile takeover bid for its partner on lupus drug Benlysta (belimumab), UK pharma giant GlaxoSmithKline plc (LSE: GSK) has extended its tender offer to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Human Genome Sciences (Nasdaq: HGSI) for US$13.00 per share in cash to 5:00 pm New York City time on June 29, 2012. The tender offer was previously scheduled to expire at the end of the day on June 7, at which time around 474,029 shares (including 24,856 shares subject to guarantees of delivery) - or around 0.2% - had been tendered and not withdrawn, pursuant to the offer. 10 June 2012
Pharmaceutical
Global drugs behemoth Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) yesterday announced the next steps in the strategic alternatives review process for the company's animal health business, as part of its plans to divest non-core operations such as infant nutrition (sold to Nestle for $11.85 billion; The Pharma Letter April 24) and Capsugel (acquired by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts last year for $2.38 billion: TPL April 5, 2011). 8 June 2012
Pharmaceutical
Miami, USA-based OPKO Health (NYSE: OPK) has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire a 45% stake in an unnamed private Israeli company that produces a third-generation hepatitis B vaccine - Sci-B-Vac - in its state of the art biologics manufacturing facility in Rehovot. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. 6 June 2012
Pharmaceutical
Japan's largest drugmaker, Takeda Pharmaceutical (TYO: 4502) said yesterday that it has now completed its previously-announced acquisition of privately-held US company URL Pharma, for an upfront payment of $800 million (The Pharma Letter April 12). 6 June 2012
Biotechnology
UK pharma giant GlaxoSmithKline (LSE: GSK) recently announced that the waiting period with respect to its tender offer for the acquisition of the outstanding shares of Human Genome Sciences (Nasdaq: HGSI) has expired under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvement Act of 1976 (HSR Act). Meanwhile, Human Genome's board of directors continued to advise its stockholders against GSK's tender offer. 5 June 2012
Biotechnology
US drugmaker Forest Laboratories (NYSE: FRX) says it has entered into an agreement with Austrian biotech firm Nabriva Therapeutics for the development of Nabriva's lead product candidate, the novel antibacterial agent BC-3781. 4 June 2012
Biotechnology
French biotechnology firm NicOx (NYSE Euronext Paris: COX) said last Friday that its board of directors has unanimously decided at its May 31 meeting not to exercise the company's option to acquire the remaining 88.2% of equity of privately-held UK ophthalmology company Altacor. 4 June 2012
Biotechnology
Genzyme, a subsidiary of French drug major Sanofi (Euronext: SAN) today reported top-line results from the Phase III TOWER study (n=1169) showing that once-daily treatment with teriflunomide (proposed trade name Aubagio) 1mg produced a statistically significant reduction in annualized relapse rate (36.3%, p<0.0001) and risk of sustained accumulation of disability (31.5%, p=0.0442) as measured by EDSS in patients with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis. 1 June 2012
Generics
Belgium's leading pharma company UCB (Euronext Brussels: UCB) says it has signed an agreement to acquire a 51% stake in Meizler Biopharma, a privately-owned Brazilian drugmaker, creating Meizler UCB Biopharma SA. 31 May 2012
Generics
Takeda Pharmaceutical (TYO: 4502), Japan's largest drugmaker, revealed this morning that it has entered into an agreeement to acquire the Brazilian compony Multilab Industria e Comercio de Produtos Farmaceuticos through its wholly-owned subsidiary Takeda Farmaceutica Brasil. 25 May 2012
Biotechnology
intellectual property developed and owned by Hadassah University Hospital, Israel's foremost medical research center, says that Thrombotech, a portfolio company in which Hadasit holds a 24.8% stake, has signed a merger agreement with D-Pharm (TASE: DPRM), a clinical stage, technology-driven biopharmaceutical company developing proprietary products for treatment of CNS disorders, also based in Israel. 25 May 2012
Pharmaceutical
UK pharma giant GlaxoSmithKline (LSE: GSK) has said it would not proceed with its $2.59 billion hostile takeover offer for Human Genome Sciences (NSQ: HGSI) unless the U.S. biotechnology company dropped a shareholder rights plan or "poison pill" imposed to block the deal, Reuters and other news sources have reported. 24 May 2012
Generics
Privately-held US aesthetics company Suneva Medical has acquired an aesthetic product portfolio from Spear Pharmaceuticals. Under the terms of the agreement, Suneva will acquire worldwide rights to Refissa and its marketed generic equivalent. 24 May 2012
Biotechnology
The biotechnology industry in France is a dynamic sector mainly made up of small structures, but companies are struggling to finance themselves and attain mid-cap status, according to the results of the 10th Life Science Panorama for 2011 report compiled by trade group France Biotech in partnership with Ernst & Young and released this week. 23 May 2012
Biotechnology
California, USA-based biotech firm InterMune (Nasdaq: ITMN) says that it has reached a definitive agreement with privately-held Vidara Therapeutics International, which has operations in Ireland and the USA, to sell its rights to Actimmune (interferon gamma-1b) in a cash transaction valued at $55 million plus a two-year royalty stream. 22 May 2012
Pharmaceutical
USA-based Agilent Technologies (NYSE: A) and EQT, a Swedish private equity group, have entered into an accord to acquire Denmark-based cancer diagnostic company Dako. The $2.2 billion all cash acquisition (on a debt-free basis) is the largest in Agilent's history. 21 May 2012
Biotechnology
US biotech company Human Genome Sciences (Nasdaq: HGSI) said yesterday that, after carefully reviewing US drug giant GlaxoSmithKline's (LSE: GSK) unsolicited $13 a share ($2.6 billion in total) tender offer to acquire the company (The Pharma Letter May 9), its board of directors has unanimously determined that the bid price is inadequate, undervalues the company and is not in the best interests of HGS and its stockholders. 18 May 2012
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
Biotechnology
Aizen Therapeutics, an AI-driven biotech headquartered in San Diego, has officially launched from stealth mode, introducing its drug discovery platform, DaX. 21 November 2024
Biotechnology
Massachusetts, USA-based firm VBI Vaccines has initiated a nationwide voluntary recall of PreHevbrio (hepatitis B vaccine), as it proceeds with bankruptcy and the shutdown of its operations. 19 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
Biotechnology
Last week saw US pharma major AbbVie release disappointing Phase II trial results on its emraclidine in schizophrenia, which benefited Bristol Myers Squibb. Also on the research front, Germany’s Merck KGaA and Abbisko’s pimicotinib showed positive results in tenosynovial giant cell tumor (TGCT). M&A news saw German BioNTech punting $800 million upfront to acquire China based oncology focused Biotheus. Also of note, US drugmaker Halozyme Therapeutics made an unsolicited takeover bid for Evotec, valuing the German firm, at around 2 billion euros. 17 November 2024
Biosimilars
South Korean biosimilars company Celltrion today announced its acquisition of iQone Healthcare Switzerland a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on distribution, sales, and marketing in Switzerland. 15 November 2024
Biotechnology
Shares of German drug discovery company Evotec leapt 20% to 10.33 euros this morning on the revelation that the USA’s Halozyme Therapeutics has submitted a non-binding proposal to acquire Evotec for 11.00 euros per share in cash, implying a fully-diluted equity value of around 2.0 billion euros ($2.12 billion). 15 November 2024
Biotechnology
BeiGene has announced plans to rebrand as BeOne Medicines, a move the cancer specialist says reflects its commitment to fighting cancer through collaboration. 15 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
Biotechnology
Although it is seeing a downturn in sales and profits, German biotech BioNTech is continuing to acquire assets with the cash pile it made through the covid pandemic, notably iis Comirnaty vaccine that was developed with Pfizer (NYSE: PFE). 13 November 2024
Biotechnology
Trace Neuroscience, a newly launched biopharma based in San Francisco, aims to advance treatments for neurodegenerative diseases, starting with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). 12 November 2024
Biotechnology
AlloVir has entered into a definitive agreement to merge with biopharma company Kalaris Therapeutics. 8 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
Biotechnology
California, USA-based biotech Nektar Therapeutics’ shares closed up more than 8% at $1.33 yesterday after it announced the sale of its only manufacturing facility. 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
Biotechnology
Maryland, USA–based glycobiology specialist GlycoMimetics has entered into an acquisition agreement with Crescent Biopharma, a privately held biotechnology company advancing a pipeline of oncology therapeutics designed to treat solid tumors. 30 October 2024
Biotechnology
German drugmaker Dr Falk Pharma GmbH today announced completion of the acquisition of Kynos Therapeutics, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focusing on the development of novel KMO inhibitors for acute and chronic inflammatory diseases. 29 October 2024
Biotechnology
US Pharma major AbbVie has reached a definitive agreement to acquire Aliada Therapeutics, a biotech advancing therapies using a novel blood-brain barrier (BBB)-crossing technology to address challenging central nervous system (CNS) diseases. 29 October 2024
Biotechnology
Ottimo Pharma, a biotech founded by Medicxi in 2020, has emerged from stealth mode with an executive team packed with prominent industry leaders. 28 October 2024
Sign up to receive email updates
Join industry leaders for a daily roundup of biotech & pharma news
Copyright © The Pharma Letter 2024 | Headless Content Management with Blaze