Healthcare

Gilead flies $12 bln kite to find cancer mini-me

28 Aug 2017

The purchase of Kite Pharma is reminiscent of Gilead's own history and past blockbuster deals. The $96 bln biotech is betting a plucky upstart has found cancer treatments that will change medicine, and society will pay the staggering cost. This protégé is a risky pupil, however.

America’s opioid-industrial complex ensnares pets

24 Aug 2017

Pharmaceutical makers, rehab facilities, security firms, prisons and funeral homes profit from the country’s addiction crisis. Now a pet-medicine seller stands accused of cashing in. The U.S. economy of addiction has grown so large that most consumers are numb to its presence.

Activists lack salve for hospitals’ financial ills

21 Aug 2017

Hefty debt, rising costs and painful changes to health insurance make the likes of Tenet and Community Health easy patients for pushy shareholders like Glenview. But the usual remedies will achieve little and there are few obvious buyers. Palliative care may end up an option.

Hadas: A lesson for the Brexit mess from Obamacare

16 Aug 2017

The British vote to leave Europe and the vow by Republicans to cut back government health insurance were triumphs of dreams over reality. Facing the unpopular prospect of actually reducing benefits, the Americans blinked. The UK, with even worse choices, could do the same.

Growing Siemens will be harder than rewiring it

11 Aug 2017

CEO Joe Kaeser has delivered higher margins and healthy shareholder returns by making the engineering behemoth slimmer and more agile in his first four years. He has four more to build on his success. The risk is he will repeat past mistakes by indulging in costly acquisitions.

German-U.S. med kit deal requires flawless surgery

7 Aug 2017

Kidney dialysis group Fresenius Medical Care is forking out $2 bln in cash for loss-making rival NxStage. The German group enjoys a remarkably low cost of capital. But even if it delivers ambitious cost savings and the American group keeps getting better, returns will fall short.

Repeal’s death gives new life to healthcare rally

28 Jul 2017

Republicans’ inability to repeal Obamacare offers a reprieve to the healthcare sector. Insurers, drug firms and hospitals have benefited greatly from the ACA, and it remains on the books. Political hostility may yet destabilize exchanges, but profits continue to roll in.

FDA crackdown on cigarettes a rare win for science

28 Jul 2017

The U.S. watchdog wants to lower nicotine levels in a hit to Big Tobacco, whose shares plunged. The agency says long-term use kills half of smokers. It’s a departure from Team Trump’s rejection of facts in climate change. The FDA is the odd regulator defying corporate interests.

WebMD gets second opinion on rollup strategy

24 Jul 2017

Back in 1999, the online health-information publisher united with another fledgling rival in a deal backed by Microsoft and Intel. KKR is now buying WebMD for $2.8 bln, far less than the earlier stock-swap valuation. This fresh merger with other websites may work out better.

Viewsroom: Why U.S. tax reform is doomed, too

20 Jul 2017

Republicans’ failure to replace Obamacare throws into doubt Washington’s ability to keep other high-profile election promises, not least cutting corporate levies. Meanwhile, President Trump’s fuzzy agenda for reforming NAFTA could give Canada and Mexico more bargaining power.

Reckitt shows bigger rivals how it’s done

19 Jul 2017

The UK company sold its French’s Mustard unit to U.S. food group McCormick for $4.2 bln, a spicy 7.4 times sales – even though there’s no recovery story and limited synergies. With buyers this hungry, less efficient peers Unilever and Nestlé ought to emulate Reckitt’s recipe.

Third Senate GOP health attempt is most charmless

18 Jul 2017

Having twice failed to pass alternatives to Obamacare, Republicans may try to repeal it with no replacement. Based on a similar 2015 effort an estimated 32 mln Americans would lose insurance cover, some 10 mln more than under the nixed bills. It’s hard to see senators backing it.

Cancer treatment revolution has more to prove

12 Jul 2017

Novartis’ new immunotherapy is on the way to winning U.S. approval. It appears to be startlingly effective with certain cancers. Assuming that proves out, bigger questions include how to scale up personalized medicines and whether and how society can afford to pay for them.

Konica Minolta deal helps develop clearer picture

6 Jul 2017

The Japanese company that abandoned cameras for copiers a decade ago is now putting its focus squarely on medical diagnostics. An up-to-$1 bln acquisition of Ambry Genetics alone won't assure Konica Minolta's future. It is, however, an affordable way to start changing its DNA.

Walgreens salvages mild boost from intense effort

29 Jun 2017

After antitrust pushback on acquiring the whole of Rite Aid, the U.S. drugstore is buying over 2,000 of its rival's stores for $5.2 billion. For CEO Stefano Pessina, doing about half the deal with half the benefits is something – but it's a modest return on 20 months' work.

Philips deal healthier for patients than investors

28 Jun 2017

The Dutch healthcare equipment maker is buying loss-making US rival Spectranetics for more than 6 times next year's revenue in a $2.2 bln deal. Ramping up expertise in treating cardiac disease makes strategic sense, but the high price adds unhealthy financial side-effects.

U.S. Senate healthcare bill lacks “heart” to pass

26 Jun 2017

Donald Trump wanted a less "mean" rollback of Obamacare. Yet the Senate spared only 1 mln of 23 mln set to lose health cover under the House plan, by Congressional Budget Office figures. The White House is undermining the CBO, but even a Republican-only deal will need surgery.

U.S. Senate’s “better” healthcare is still worse

22 Jun 2017

Upper-chamber Republicans unveiled their hitherto secret Obamacare alternative. Unlike the House bill it keeps income-based subsidies, but there are big cuts to Medicaid. Millions would probably lose insurance coverage. With costs ballooning, that's what Trump might call "mean."

Economics rather than ethics will harm big tobacco

21 Jun 2017

Aviva is the latest investor to quit cigarette stocks. The sector has yet to suffer any material harm. Nor does it lack capital. Yet there are good reasons to be nervous: growing regulatory risk and competition from electronic alternatives make current valuations unsustainable.

Condom boom and two-child policy make odd couple

26 May 2017

A Chinese drugmaker and a buyout firm are buying the world's No. 2 condom-maker for $600 mln. The rich price could pay off, as Chinese couples invest more in safer sex. But this also highlights the difficulties Beijing faces in convincing the middle class to have more children.