Teva is jumping through hoops to close its $40 billion-plus deal for Allergan’s generics unit–but when it does, it may not be raking in as much as analysts initially thought.
Deutsche Bank Thursday lowered its sales estimates for the unit–dubbed Actavis Generics–by about 8% to reflect Q1 sales that came in about 20% below where they were last year.
Teva’s investors shouldn’t panic, though. The Israeli drugmaker has said it expected that sales drop, considering the strength of last year’s Q1. And DB’s Gregg Gilbert pointed out some bright spots for the generics giant, too: It trimmed SG&A estimates for Actavis Generics, and it raised its U.S. sales estimates for Teva’s branded blockbuster Copaxone, too.
Teva has been working hard to usher the Allergan deal–struck last summer–through the door, but a close look from antitrust regulators has been holding things up. Bernstein analyst Ronny Gal, though, has said the acquisition still looks as though it’s on track to close this month, and the pharma has already struck a pair of deals within the past week to clear FTC hurdles: Thursday, Schaumburg, IL’s Sagent Pharmaceuticals agreed to shell out $40 million for a portfolio of 5 generics not yet FDA-approved, and Saturday, Dr. Reddy’s inked a $350 million pact to acquire 8 meds from the Petah Tivka-based company.
Pharma deals lately have come under the antitrust lens more often than mergers in other industries, according to a Bloomberg analysis released last week. The FTC reviewed drugmakers’ tie-ups at about three times the rate of other transactions–in part because the recent trend toward skyrocketing drug prices.
By Carly Helfand
Source: Fierce Pharma
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