Look back at pharma news in week to April 27

By Barbara Obstoj-Cardwell, Editor

Mergers and acquisitions continued at the forefront of news again last week, with Ireland-based Shire reaching  preliminary agreement to recommend Takeda Pharmaceutical’s fifth revised bid of some £46 billion, though observers warn that the deal could be scuppered because of the huge level of debt that will ensue. Also attracting attention was Fresenius’ declaration that it wants to pull out of the 2017 deal to acquire Akorn. In regulatory news, there was a mixed Food and Drug Administration panel vote for Eli Lilly and Incyte’s rheumatoid arthritis drug baricitinib, and on research, the implications of Prothena’s failed trial with rare disease drug NEOD001.

Takeda’s bid for Shire still faces hurdles