Archive for the 'Deals and Mergers' Category
July 29th, 2010 by admin
Milestone payments are becoming an increasingly familiar aspect of many biotech deals, as buyers try to mitigate the risks inherent with big purchases. Take Celgene’s $2.9 billion buyout of Abraxis; the biotech giant set aside $650 million in milestone payments if Abraxis’ key drug Abraxane hit certain goals. “These structures are a great way for buyer and seller to share the risk that’s related to drug development,” says analyst Brett Skolnik. Milestones also encourage buyer and seller to look beyond the merger, making it more likely the deal will be beneficial to both sides in the long term.
Continue reading ‘Milestones Mitigate Risk in Biotech Deals’
July 26th, 2010 by admin
Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY) is looking to its pipeline to fill the gaps left by a number of high-profile drugs coming off patent. In October 2011, blockbuster Zyprexa will fall to generic competition; additionally, about three-quarters of Lilly’s current revenue comes from eight drugs that will lose patent protection between now and 2017. ”We have the challenge of replenishing our product portfolio from our pipeline,” says CEO John Lechleiter in a USA Today interview. “Fortunately, we have the most exciting pipeline today in our history.”
Continue reading ‘Pipeline to Soften Lilly Patent Losses’
July 21st, 2010 by admin
Welcome to the annual look at the biggest CEO paychecks in the pharma industry. The major trend in 2009 was the mega-merger, which helped propel former Schering-Plough CEO Fred Hassan to the top of this year’s list. With the help of a $33 million golden handshake, Hassan bypassed perennial top dogs Bill Weldon (Johnson & Johnson) and Miles White (Abbott) as the highest-paid CEO in Pharma.
Continue reading ‘Top 10 Pharma CEO Salaries of 2009′
July 20th, 2010 by admin
In the quest for a cancer vaccine, Merck KGaA is again stepping into the ring. Vaximm Holding AG, the company’s joint venture with a Switzerland’s BB Biotech Ventures III, will start testing a therapeutic cancer vaccine in patients next year. The vaccine, VXM01, harnesses the body’s immune system to fight cancer by using T-cells to close off the tumor’s blood supply. Roche’s Avastin also focuses on the tumor’s blood supply, but it focuses on eliminating a protein that creates the blood vessels to the tumor.
Continue reading ‘Merck KGaA’s Pancreatic Cancer Vaccine Ready for Testing’
July 19th, 2010 by admin
Worrywarts who thought Roche would corporatize and homogenize Genentech can rest easy. Roche is veering toward Genentech, rather than the other way around, Bloomberg reports. Even though Roche was the one that bought out Genentech in last year’s $46.8 billion deal, the Swiss drugmaker has named Genentech scientists to key jobs–Hal Barron as head of global development, Ian Clark as chief of Roche’s North American commercial operations, Pat Yang as global manufacturing chief. Genentech veterans have also taken hold farther down the food chain, running marketing teams and commercial-management roles.
Continue reading ‘Roche Cedes Power, Jobs to Genentech’
July 15th, 2010 by admin
Hold onto your hats: The global market for contract manufacturing is headed for speedy growth over the next few years. According to a new report from RNCOS, pharmaceutical contract manufacturing is poised to grow about 12 percent per year from 2010 to 2012. Cost is one of the reasons, of course.
Continue reading ‘Contract Manufacturing to see Double-Digit Growth’
June 4th, 2010 by admin
Over the last decade, $301 billion was spent on 1,496 medical device mergers and acquisitions, according to Deal Search Online. Novartis’ $39 billion buyout of Nestle’s 77 percent interest in Alcon took the top spot as the largest medical device deal in the last decade. Boston Scientific’s $27.2 billion acquisition of Guidant Corporation in 2005 came in second.
Continue reading ‘Medical Device Deals of the Decade’
May 20th, 2010 by admin
Big Pharma companies know all too well that they have a big development problem. As Eli Lilly CEO John Lechleiter has said: “We’re taking too long, spending too much and producing far too little. Re-powering pharmaceutical innovation is an urgent need.”
Continue reading ‘Big Pharma Tries to Think Like a Biotech While Re-engineering R&D’
April 22nd, 2010 by admin
Roche intends to keep up its licensing pace even after its massive buyout of Genentech last year, which included gaining access to 16 Phase I or II programs the big Biotech had in its pipeline. Dan Zabrowski, head of partnering at the Swiss company, tells Bloomberg that Roche inked 65 deals last year and plans on pursuing just as many in 2010. Most of this year’s agreements will be licensing deals, though Zabrowski said a couple of acquisitions are also a possibility.
Continue reading ‘Roche: Still looking for deals in 2010′
April 9th, 2010 by admin
Anyone who doubts just how obsessed biotech companies can be when it comes to deal-making should take a close look at all the wheeling and dealing that goes on around the global drug development business. Deal Search Online took a look over the past decade of biotech M&A activity and found a cumulative $295 billion in disclosed industry deals–topped off by Roche’s ambitious decision to take full ownership of Genentech.
Continue reading ‘Biotech inspired $295B in M&A Deals over the Last Decade’
