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
Novo Nordisk has acquired the global rights to China-based United Laboratories’ triple-agonist weight-loss and diabetes drug in a deal worth up to $2bn as the Wegovy (semalgutide) developer seeks a successor for its blockbuster drug.
The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday cleared a new kind of oral antibiotic for the treatment of common urinary tract infection in women and girls 12 years or older. The oral drug gepotidacin, which its maker GSK will sell as Blujepa, is approved to treat uncomplicated urinary tract infections caused by five common types of bacteria, including E. coli.
23andMe, the DNA testing company once valued at $6 billion, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Sunday as it runs low on cash. CEO and co-founder Anne Wojcicki resigned on Sunday but will remain a director on the board. Joseph Selsavage, 23andMe’s chief financial and accounting officer, was named interim CEO.
