Despite reports that Pfizer is now the front-runner to snap up cancer biotech Medivation, its original suitor Sanofi is confident that its low ball $9.3 billion offer will be accepted after filing under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act.
This move, which happens when a company believes it is about to subsume another company, shows Sanofi’s bullishness in getting the deal done–despite the fact that it was roundly rejected by Medivation just weeks’ ago and comes amid swirling rumors that it has opened talks with Pfizer.
Sanofi has in the past week hinted at both potentially extending its offer–but also going hostile if the Xtandi producer’s board doesn’t play ball.
In a brief statement, the French drugmaker–which is looking to beef up its relatively weak and until recently half abandoned oncology pipeline–said: “As announced on April 28, 2016, Sanofi proposed to acquire Medivation for $52.50 per share, representing an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $9.3 billion”–indicating it is not yet willing to budge on price.
Analysts have said the biotech could fetch as much as $70 a share, with Novartis, AstraZeneca and Amgen also all said to be circling.
By Ben Adams
Source: Fierce Biotech
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHAP) has established a partnership with Novo Nordisk Pharma Gulf focusing on the creation of a national scientific guide for obesity management and weight control. The collaboration also aims to enhance public awareness of cardiovascular diseases and their complications.
Pharma giant Eli Lilly is teaming up with Haya Therapeutics in a $1bn deal to find multiple regulatory-genome-derived RNA-based drug targets, as it eyes up new targets in obesity. Under the deal, the companies will use Haya’s proprietary regulatory genome discovery platform to identify and validate long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) targets for developing potential treatments for obesity and related metabolic disorders.
The sale includes custom formulation and contract manufacturing capabilities for the nutrition market from the production facilities in New Jersey and Utah in the United States, and Tamaulipas, Mexico. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
