Thermo Fisher Scientific has been racking up deals over the past few years to boost its diagnostics capabilities. Its latest target? Sequencing giant Illumina, to the tune of $30 billion.
Thermo Fisher has put forward a $30 billion all-stock offer, according to an unnamed source with knowledge of the matter, StreetInsider reported. Illumina, which notched $600 million in Q2 revenues, has a $25 billion market cap, and gained as much as 8% on news of the acquisition proposal. Analysts are critical of the prospects of the deal.
In April 2012, Illumina successfully fought off a $6.7 billion hostile takeover attempt by Roche ($RHHBY), which grew from the initial $5.7 billion offer the Big Pharma proposed in January. Illumina and its shareholders rejected the deal because the price was too low.
Thermo Fisher, with a $61 billion market cap, reels in about $17 billion in revenues annually. It has made a string of acquisitions in the last few years and filed a Form S-3 in March, registering a mixed securities shelf for “general corporate purposes” that “may include the acquisition of companies and businesses.”
Most recently, Thermo Fisher picked up FEI and its electron microscopy technology in a $4.2 billion transaction, while in March, it closed its $1.3 billion purchase of Affymetrix, expanding its drug research and genetic analysis capabilities in the process. Prior to that, the company acquired bioprocessing firm Advanced Scientifics for $300 million in 2015 and Life Technologies for $13.6 billion in 2014, adding it to its Life Sciences Solutions Group.
By Amirah Al Idrus
Source: Fierce Biotech
CureVac and the University of Texas’s MD Anderson Cancer Center have announced a co-development and licensing agreement to develop novel messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA)-based cancer vaccines. The strategic collaboration will focus on the development of differentiated cancer vaccine candidates in selected haematological and solid tumour indications with high unmet medical needs.
FUJIFILM Corporation is planning to invest $1.2 billion to expand the planned FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies manufacturing facility in Holly Springs, North Carolina, US. This news follows the organisation’s announcement of a $2 billion investment in the facility in March 2021. This additional financial boost totals the investment to over $3.2 billion, FUJIFILM confirmed.
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