Biotechnology

Celltech looks like takeover bait

1 Dec 2003

Pfizer has dropped its right to sell Celltech's arthritis drug. With a majority of Celltech s value tied up in this one drug and new drugs hard to find the company may find suitors knocking.

Glaxo faces depressing news on generics

27 Nov 2003

The UK drugs firm is confronting unexpected generic competition to its blockbuster antidepressant. With more than 20% of its drug sales now up against generic competition, the company's sales and profits are set to shrink in 2004.

Glaxo should quit drinks (and toothpaste)

26 Nov 2003

The UK drugs company receives 15% of sales from things such as toothpaste, sports drinks, and aspirin. A sale of the company's consumer goods division makes sense.

US drugs bill is devil’s bargain

26 Nov 2003

The pharma industry's global revenues will be 1%3% higher over ten years as a result of the new Medicare programme for the elderly. The snag is it may also get hit by price controls.

German wholesalers scandal made in Berlin

20 Nov 2003

German police have raided drug wholesalers for evidence of collusion. It shouldn't be hard to prove. If anything is scandalous, it is the German government s behaviour. It unreasonably eliminated the companies' profit by decree.

Novartis juggernaut rolls on

19 Nov 2003

The Swiss pharmaceutical company unveiled positive results from four clinical trials in its annual R&D day. With an enormously fat pipeline and few drugs under generic threat, Novartis looks set for years of above average growth.

Bayer plans sale of programs to Glaxo – report

18 Nov 2003

The German conglomerate is rumoured to be in advanced talks to sell its asthma, urology and metabolic units to GlaxoSmithKline. The rumours are not new, but a recently announced plan to cut R&D spend by 30% means several programs must go. Glaxo is a natural buyer.

French pharma merger would make sense

17 Nov 2003

A combination of Sanofi and Aventis would create a politically pleasing and strategically prudent European giant. Better yet, the merger of the drugs makers would make financial sense, even with limited cost cutting.

Celltech gets dose of bad medicine

13 Nov 2003

The UK biotech has suffered a huge setback from Pfizer's move to slow development of its main drug. More ominous still is its partner's request to review licensing terms for the drug. Investors may want to steer clear of Celltech.

Serono plans shopping spree

10 Nov 2003

The Swiss biotechnology company is issuing a $440m convertible to fund its expansion plans outside Switzerland. With $2.2bn in cash, Serono can afford to buy struggling competitors or their products. But Serono has already missed the real bargains.

Bayer to float chemical division

7 Nov 2003

After two decades, the German conglomerate has realised that separating chemicals and pharma is a sure recipe for value creation. Bayer could still bungle the reorganisation, but there s little question that separation will benefit the company.

Pfizer eliminates poison pill

31 Oct 2003

But Pfizer deserves only slight applause the decision is both correct and meaningless considering the company s mammoth size. The world s largest drugs company has removed an obstacle to a hostile takeover.

Elan plans convert and stock offering

30 Oct 2003

The troubled Irish pharmaceuticals company hopes to raise around $450m to avoid massive dilution. The cash may solve liquidity problems, but it leaves Elan a massively geared bet on one drug. The troubled Irish pharmaceuticals company hopes to raise around $630m to avoid massive dilution.

New US health care giant could squeeze pharma

27 Oct 2003

It will be a powerful counterweight to big pharma, potentially driving down drug prices which are higher in the US than elsewhere. Anthem's $15bn acquisition of WellPoint will create a behemoth controlling health spending for 9% of the US population.

Astra blows by estimates on Nexium sales

23 Oct 2003

The AngloSwedish drugs company increased Q3 sales despite $2bn in lost sales to generics. But Nexium, the franchise drug, looks like a shaky base upon which to build earnings.

Glaxo readies itself for hard times

22 Oct 2003

The pharmaceutical company faces competition for its bestselling antidepressant Paxil. More worryingly, the company s newest blockbuster faces slowing growth.

Market too depressed over Akzo Nobel

21 Oct 2003

The Dutch conglomerate s profitability is under pressure because of growing generic competition to its main drug. But Pfizer s drugmaking tieup with Akzo, and the company s willingness to dispose of some chemicals assets, mean sunnier days lie ahead.

European biotech sticks toe back in market

20 Oct 2003

While the US looks to be starting a biotech IPO blitz, only a few European firms are teetering towards listings. This may change but for now this restraint means that there are some attractive candidates around.

R&D blitz at Novartis squeezes profits

20 Oct 2003

The Swiss group is that latest drugmaker to decide that its product pipeline needs to be fatter and so is pouring cash into research. An industrywide trend is emerging whereby R&D budgets rise faster than profits.

Amersham agrees £5.7bn GE bid

10 Oct 2003

GE's and Amersham's businesses don't overlap; but are adjacent. GE supplies the kit, while Amersham makes the juice that makes the kit work. At a different time, GE's ability to extend its dominance over both markets might have run foul of regulators. But probably not now.