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
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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
Pharmaceutical
Swiss drug major Novartis (NOVN: VX) said this morning that it has now completed the transaction to acquire an 85% stake in the Chinese vaccines company Zhejiang Tianyuan Bio-Pharmaceutical, which will retain its name. The $125 million deal was first announced nearly 17 months ago (The Pharma Letter November 4, 2009). 22 March 2011
Pharmaceutical
Japanese drug major Astellas (TSE: 4503) has exercised its option to purchase all of USA-based Maxygen's (Nasdaq: MAXY) more than 80% equity interests in their joint venture Perseid Therapeutics at the current exercise price of $76.0 million. 21 March 2011
Generics
India's Union Ministry Health has established a taskforce to address issues facing the country's pharmaceutical industry and evolve a long-term strategy for the sector, reports the local Business Standard newspaper, particularly with respect to the takeover of domestic drugmakers by multinational companies. Measures to tackle the problem of spurious drugs will also be a focus of the taskforce. 17 March 2011
Pharmaceutical
Swiss drug major Roche (SIX: ROG) aims to strengthen its position in laboratory automation clinical diagnostics with the acquisition of PVT Probenverteiltechnik GmbH based in Waiblingen, Germany and of PVT Lab Systems, in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. PVT is a global market leader in providing customized automation and workflow solutions for in-vitro diagnostic (IVD) testing in large commercial and hospital laboratories. 17 March 2011
Pharmaceutical
US drugs behemoth Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) saw its shares rise nearly 1.8 to $19.81 yesterday - hitting a news 52-week high - on speculation that the world's largest pharmaceutical company by sales was set to shed as much as nearly half of its turnover in the form of spin-offs, split-offs or outright divestments. 15 March 2011
Pharmaceutical
US drug major Eli Lilly's (NYSE: LLY) animal health division Elanco has made an irrevocable, unconditional offer to acquire the animal health business of Janssen Pharmaceutica NV, a Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ). Financial terms of the bid have not been disclosed. 15 March 2011
Pharmaceutical
Privately-held Dutch biotechnology firm Pepscan Therapeutics, which focuses on protein mimicry technology, has signed a research and license agreement with fellow Netherlands-based vaccines company Crucell, which is the subject of a $2.29 billion takeover by US health care giant Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ). 11 March 2011
Pharmaceutical
Australian drug discovery company Phylogica (ASX: PYC) says it will partner with researchers from the UK's University of Cambridge in a spin-off company to pursue a novel application of its Phylomer peptides for discovery of disease-associated targets. 10 March 2011
Pharmaceutical
Japan-based bio-pharmaceutical firm MediciNova (TK: 4875, which is publicly traded in the USA (Nasdaq: MNOV), has signed a letter of intent with Chinese drugmaker Zhejiang Medicine for the formation of a joint venture company to develop and commercialize MediciNova's MN-221 in China. 8 March 2011
Biotechnology
The pharmaceutical industry continues to witness major challenges like sluggish prescription trends, European Union pricing pressure, intensifying generic competition, pipeline failures and limited late-stage catalysts. The next five years are expected to reflect a significant imbalance between new product introductions and patent losses, comment analysts at Zacks Equity Research. 4 March 2011
Pharmaceutical
German drug major Bayer (BAY: DE), which reported 2010 results on Monday (The Pharma Letter March 1), said at its press conference in Leverkusen that it Bayer Healthcare unit expects to see sales growth in the low-to-mid single-digit percents, after adjusting for currency and portfolio effects. But it forecasts stronger revenue growth in 2012, with the roll out of new drugs or for expanded indications on existing products. 2 March 2011
Pharmaceutical
Japanese drug major Daiichi Sankyo (TYO: 4568) says that it has concluded an agreement to acquire Plexxikon, a privately-held pharmaceutical company based in Berkeley, California with a late-stage oncology product, PLX4032, as well as a promising pipeline and technology platform. 1 March 2011
Generics
USA-based Caraco Pharmaceutical Laboratories (NYSE Amex: CPD) says that it has entered into a merger agreement with India's Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (SUNP: IN) and its wholly-owned subsidiary Sun Pharma Global, at an increased offer price. 25 February 2011
Pharmaceutical
Drugmaker Forest Laboratories (NYSE: FRX) has entered a deal to acquire fellow USA-based Clinical Data (Nasdaq: CLDA) in a deal worth as much as $1.2 billion that should also bring the former a key antidepressant drug to replace its blockbuster drug Lexapro (escitalopram), which loses patent protection next year. 23 February 2011
Pharmaceutical
USA-based Gilead Sciences (Nasdaq: GILD) has signed a definitive agreement to purchase Calistoga Pharmaceuticals, a privately-held biotechnology company focused on the development of drugs to treat cancer and inflammatory diseases. 23 February 2011
Generics
According to reports in the German media, Iceland-based generic drugmaker Actavis (OMX: ACT) is currently planning its expansion through future acquisitions. Actavis chief executive Claudio Albrecht is reported to have said: 'we [Actavis] want to grow in the coming years by an average of ten to twelve percent - faster than the current growth of the market itself.' 23 February 2011
Pharmaceutical
In a batch of merger and acquisition news revealed this morning, US health care giant Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) says it has completed its $2.29 billion tender offer for Dutch vaccine maker Crucell N.V. (Euronext: CRXL; The Pharma Letter September 17, 2010) and has declared the offer unconditional. As a result, Crucell will now operate as the center for vaccines within the Johnson & Johnson pharmaceuticals group. Settlement of the offer will take place on February 25, and the remaining shares can be tendered in a subsequent offering period ending March 8, 2011. 22 February 2011
Pharmaceutical
Troubled Scotland-based specialty drugmaker ProStrakan Group (LSE: PSK) has accepted a takeover bid from Japan's Kyowa Hakko Kirin (4151: JP), valuing the company at 292 million ($473.3 million), or 130 pence a share. This is a 41% premium to the closing price of 92.5 pence per share on November 12, 2010, being the last business day immediately prior to the start of ProStrakan's current offer period, and up from the 108.88 pence closing price on Friday. 21 February 2011
Pharmaceutical
Following yesterday's announcement that the French pharmaceutical group Sanofi-Aventis (Euronext: SAN) had finally managed to put together an acceptable deal to buy US biotech company Genzyme (Nasdaq: GENZ), Robin Johnson, partner at international law firm Eversheds, points out divergences as at how takeover deals are conducted in the USA and Europe. 17 February 2011
Biotechnology
Confirming recent speculation French drug major Sanofi-Aventis (Euronext: SAN) and US biotech Genzyme (Nasdaq: GENZ) have finally reached agreement on an acceptable acquisition price, when the Paris-based firm this morning announced that it has raised its original offer of $69 a share to $74, for a total value of 20.1 billion, which has been unanimously agreed by both companies' boards of directors. 16 February 2011
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