Healthcare

Healthcare-plan foes may find safety in numbers

9 Mar 2017

The White House is attacking the CBO as it tots up the cost of repealing Obamacare. Republicans once touted estimates from the nonpartisan group, which has a decent track record. Early healthcare appraisals elsewhere are damning, but the legislative one will remain one to watch.

Viewsroom: Trump’s bad prescription for Obamacare

9 Mar 2017

The U.S. president and congressional Republicans’ rush to ditch the Affordable Care Act is spawning pox-plagued legislation. Meanwhile, Deutsche Bank tries to get its financial house in order. And State Street’s fund managers are pushing to get more women on corporate boards.

Obamacare repeal to test Trump negotiating chops

8 Mar 2017

The new GOP healthcare plan has been condemned by party conservatives and moderates as well as industry groups. The president is embarking on a charm offensive to woo doubters. His performance will have implications for other policy pushes, like tax reform and a fiscal stimulus.

New U.S. healthcare plan is in critical condition

7 Mar 2017

After deriding Obamacare for years, Republicans have rolled out an alternative afflicted with financial and political problems. It would worsen insurance-exchange woes, raise costs for many Americans and weaken Medicare. The prognosis from Washington and Wall Street is dire.

Cigna-Anthem slugfest may leave both deal-impaired

1 Mar 2017

The two U.S. healthcare insurers are knocking each other around in court over their busted $54 bln merger. Anthem hopes to avoid paying a break fee, while Cigna wants $13 bln in damages. As they fight what are likely to be losing battles, they could miss other M&A opportunities.

Trump sends investors more conflicting signals

28 Feb 2017

Speaking to Congress, the president repeated his criticism of foreigners after telling journalists earlier he’s open to legal status for illegal immigrants. There also were scant details on tax and healthcare reforms. A still-hazy message bodes poorly for the economic agenda.

Allergan adds ice and a slice to M&A cocktail

13 Feb 2017

The drug company is paying $2.5 bln for Zeltiq and its diet-avoiding, fat-freezing tech. It sounds a wackier play than the dozen deals Allergan struck last year. But vain customers pay cold cash for the treatment, making it less speculative than other deals, like gene therapy.

Bidding war over Stada will be far from generic

13 Feb 2017

The German pharma company has two takeover offers, including one from private equity firm Cinven. Cutting costs or breaking up the group could create value. However, a new management team has yet to tackle low growth. Potential bidders will be loath to pay too big a premium.

One battle may remain for Anthem and Cigna

9 Feb 2017

A federal judge has nixed their $54 bln deal, agreeing with the Justice Department's competition concerns. In addition to fighting the government, Anthem and Cigna were squabbling with each other over the merger. That suggests the $1.85 bln break fee could be contentious, too.

Outsiders get a way to sample China’s biotech boom

7 Feb 2017

WuXi Biologics is preparing for a Hong Kong flotation. Innovation friendly policies have boosted the mainland drug market. But foreign investors lack ways to bet on this big part of China's new economy. They should be keen to inject money into WuXi.

Siemens beats activist investors at their own game

1 Feb 2017

Boss Joe Kaeser has carved out businesses, cut red tape and lifted payouts, all without outside pressure from militant shareholders. The group's impressive quarterly results and a better 2017 outlook vindicate the approach. Yet valuations have yet to reflect his success.

J&J bid lets Actelion have $30 bln cake and eat it

26 Jan 2017

Johnson & Johnson has offered $280 per share for the Swiss drugmaker - 70 pct more than it was worth last November. That's a full price to bolster the U.S. group's specialist drugs portfolio. Meanwhile, Actelion shareholders get to keep most of the upside from its R&D pipeline.

Philips’ heart failure is a buying opportunity

24 Jan 2017

The Dutch medical kit maker says the U.S. is probing its defibrillators. While the business pulls in just 1 pct of revenue, the setback follows problems in medical imaging and the sale of specialty LEDs. Still, if Philips can exit its lighting unit briskly the shares look cheap.

Judge, not Trump, kills U.S. health insurer love-in

23 Jan 2017

Aetna's $34 bln deal for rival Humana was crushed on antitrust grounds in court. That bodes poorly for Anthem's star-crossed $46 bln Cigna bid. It's a mercy killing for the firms' shareholders, who watched UnitedHealth, which sat out consolidation, gobble up market share.

Pet health deal may become Mars’ best friend

9 Jan 2017

The candy giant is buying VCA for $7.7 bln plus debt. The U.S. animal-healthcare provider regularly swallows smaller vet outfits in a growing $63 bln industry Mars already knows. That makes the 31 pct premium look digestible. The purchase also hedges against any sugar backlash.

Privatizing Medicare would be bad elective surgery

4 Jan 2017

The federal program is a relatively solid part of the U.S. healthcare system. Republicans nevertheless want to revise it so the elderly buy subsidized insurance privately. That'd satisfy a smaller-government ideology, but at a price of greater inefficiency and worse coverage.

Gene therapy is ready to become hereditary

3 Jan 2017

The prospect of treating diseases like hemophilia and cancer by tinkering with DNA has a long history of both promise and frustration. Steady progress means 2017 should be the year the technology finally hits the U.S. market. The problem may be figuring out how to pay for cures.

Psychedelic drugs enlighten $2.5 trillion problem

29 Dec 2016

That was the cost of mental illness in 2010, an expense set to double by 2030, says the World Economic Forum. Psilocybin, magic mushrooms' active ingredient, has alleviated suffering in clinical trials. Illicit stigma aside, high returns on investment could make it worth a trip.

Deals from latest M&A boom will disappoint in 2017

21 Dec 2016

With corporate matchmaking proceeding apace, but slowing from its recent peak, investors are starting to calculate whether one plus one actually made three. More than half of mergers don't live up to promises. Three from the 2014 crop offer a guide to the letdowns of the future.

KKR gets shot in arm from bumper Capsugel exit

15 Dec 2016

Selling the drug capsule group for $5.5 bln means the U.S. buyout group has tripled its money since buying from Pfizer in 2011. It has also done so without savaging Capsugel’s R&D budget. Acquirer Lonza gets vertical integration but will struggle to get the same kind of return.