| Asda, Sainsbury Lower Cancer-Drug Prices U.K. supermarket Sainsbury will match rival Asda on retail pricing for cancer drugs after the Wal-Mart chain said it will sell treatments on private prescription at cost price. online.wsj.com |
Grifols Gets a Taste for Talecris Blood The Burrill Report submits: By Michael FitzhughGrifols (GIFLF.PK), a Spanish producer of plasma protein therapies, plans to pay $3.4 billion for Talecris Biotherapeutics (TLCR) in an effort to expand its blood-based medicines business to North America and leverage efficiencies of scale. The combination would make Grifols the number three blood products maker globally with pro-forma annual revenues of about $2.8 billion, a spot now occupied by Talecris. That would bring it much closer to competing with the number two player, Australia's CSL (CMXHY.PK), which had 2009 revenue of $2.9 billion. Baxter (BAX) is the industry's top player. CSL tried to buy Talecris in 2009, but was prevented from doing so when the U.S. Federal Trade Commission expressed concerns about anti-trust issues, a pitfall Grifols is trying to avoid by emphasizing the potential combination's replacement of Talecris among the industry's biggest players. If completed, the deal would be the third largest in the pharmaceutical sector this year, according to Reuters. Grifols' offer values Talecris at $26.16 per share, $19 of which would be paid in cash, with the remainder paid in non-voting shares. The 53 percent premium over the Talecris' 30-day average share price offers a rich exit for Cerberus and Ampersand, the private equity firms that own about 49 percent of Talecris. Grifols expects to save about $230 million over the next four years if the combination is successful, savings derived from plasma collection network efficiencies, as well as optimized manufacturing sales, marketing and R&D. It will also take a one-time charge of $100 million. The combination could create a vertically integrated and diversified plasma protein therapies company with complementary geographic footprints and increased manufacturing scale, says Grifols. New access to Grifols' manufacturing facilities could also allow Talecris, which has faced the specter of reaching its full production capacity by 2011, to ramp up its manufacturing productivity without making major new investments of its own. The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2010.Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |
Biotech IPO: NuPathe SA Editor Mohit Manghnani submits:NuPathe (PATH), a pharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of branded therapeutics for diseases of the central nervous system, is expected to price its IPO this week. Business Overview (from prospectus)Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |
Plavix Rival Gains From Studies Two new studies question the value of using a genetic test to guide long-term use of the blood thinner Plavix, a potential boon for AstraZeneca and its blood thinner Brilinta. online.wsj.com |
What Amylin's Diabetes Treatment Complete Response Letter Means for Avanir Rockford Coscia submits:Tuesday, Amylin (AMLN), Alkermes (ALKS), and Eli Lilly (LLY) announced receipt of a complete response letter (CRL) for Bydureon – a once-weekly treatment of Byetta (exenatide), a currently approved once-daily treatment for diabetes. As approval was widely expected for the second go around for Bydureon (a CRL was issued in March of this year), Amylin's share price plummeted after its rejection – dropping over 50% to start the day. Alkermes' share value was also down as much as 25%. As all of the above companies are well above the $1 billion market cap that I provide as somewhat of a coverage limit, I devoted very little attention to the above FDA decision. Additionally, there wasn’t much news to speak of – approval was widely expected. Very, very few, outside from apparently this guy, thought this wasn't an extremely likely approval. The decision, however, does impact a stock that is of especially high interest to some of my readers, Avanir Pharmaceuticals (AVNR).Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |