BioMarin shares climbed more than 10% Thursday on talk of a potential takeover. And if that scenario sounds familiar, that’s because it is.
This time, the rumored interested buyer is Roche, according to the Betaville blog, whose sources say a deal for between $130 and $150 per share could be in the works. While it’s still unclear whether Roche has put forth a formal offer or held talks with BioMarin, one source said those processes may have been placed on hold on account of the Brexit vote and its impact on the markets.
It’s not the first time Betaville writer Ben Harrington has reported BioMarin interest from the Swiss pharma giant. Back in 2013, the blog said the Basel-based drugmaker was eyeing a $13.5 billion transaction for the San Rafael, CA-based company, fueling chatter that Roche CEO Severin Schwan tamped down not long thereafter.
For Roche, a cancer heavyweight, a buyout of BioMarin would beef up its rare-disease offerings, which currently include idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis med Esbriet. More recently, though, the buzzed-about potential buyer has been Sanofi, which Betaville said last month could be sizing up BioMarin as a potential backup if its quest to buy Medivation fails.
Lately, though, Sanofi’s taken a step in the right direction toward snagging its longtime target. Earlier this week, it agreed to drop a hostile pursuit of the California maker of prostate cancer star Xtandi after the company opened up its books.
Of course, it’s still entirely possible that Sanofi will lose out on its prize–especially considering that Medivation inked confidentiality pacts with “a number of parties” interested in a potential tie-up. Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Amgen , Gilead, Celgene and Novartis have all reportedly been taking a look at a deal for the San Francisco outfit.
By Carly Helfand
Source: Fierce Pharma
The companies will explore opportunities to apply Flagship’s innovative bioplatforms – an ecosystem that currently comprises 41 companies – to scientific challenges in disease areas within cardiometabolic and rare diseases and initiate research programmes based on these.
BD is expanding its long-running partnership with the blood collection company Babson Diagnostics. The two companies have been working together since 2019 on a device that can gather small volumes of blood from the capillaries in the fingertip without requiring any specialized training, and beginning with a focus on supporting primary care in retail settings.
Wednesday, Australian biotech CSL said (PDF) the regulatory review of its $11.7 billion acquisition of Switzerland’s Vifor Pharma will take “a few more months,” suggesting it won’t be able to close the transaction by June 2022 as previously expected.
