Pharmaceuticals

New $7.4 bln opioids deal eases some legal pain

19 Mar 2025

After courts rejected Purdue Pharma’s earlier proposal, the Sackler family is kicking in $1 bln more and dropping a litigation shield. It improves on overly lax bankruptcy proceedings. Painkiller peer Mallinckrodt shows the lingering effects of bad settlements.

Walgreens mega-LBO tests ‘better in private’ maxim

7 Mar 2025

After a decade of failing to solve fundamental problems, the drugstore chain is a mess. A $10 bln buyout makes the usual promise that issues are best fixed out of the public eye. The first benchmark: selling cash-burning primary care. Investors seem to have reasonable doubts.

Trump will splinter world’s ‘China plus one’ plans

6 Mar 2025

The US president is moving aggressively against China’s exports, the economic pillar of its strategic adversary, by dangling secondary sanctions on third countries. It heralds a push towards a cleaner segregation of US-centric supply chains from those for the rest of the world.

GSK drug pipeline requires bigger cash injection

25 Feb 2025

The $77 bln pharma group trades at a chunky valuation discount to rivals like Novartis and AstraZeneca. Little wonder since boss Emma Walmsley faces a patent cliff and a misfiring vaccine unit. Spending more on M&A and research, rather than share buybacks, could help.

Blackstone pushes pharma investors their cash fix

13 Feb 2025

Drug companies like Novartis must constantly add new therapies as old ones gain new competition. Snag is, shareholders want stodgy giants to pay dividends, not splurge on research. A $3 bln deal shows how the buyout shop can tend farmed-out programs, for a hefty price.

Obesity drug giants risk devouring their own lunch

5 Feb 2025

Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk are delivering bumper sales thanks to demand for weight-loss drugs. But faster-than-expected take-up will also mean fewer people with diabetes. That will hurt growth in the two groups’ core businesses, with $53 bln of sales.

J&J’s $15 bln depression deal eases pharma blues

13 Jan 2025

The $344 bln healthcare firm has spent years dealing with lawsuits and pruning assets. Meanwhile, novel drug developers’ stocks have been stuck in purgatory for a decade, making them look cheap. For giants like Johnson & Johnson in need of new products an M&A solution is obvious.

For China, Hong Kong IPOs start to look urgent

9 Jan 2025

The next wave of offerings in the city will come from mainland-listed companies, including those with global ambitions like CATL. Beijing wants to shore up the hub's status as a financial centre. Narrowing fundraising avenues in the People's Republic may make that an imperative.

Novo Nordisk weight-loss blow is warning for Lilly

20 Dec 2024

Shares of the $368 bln Ozempic maker fell up to 27% after trials of a critical medication disappointed. That will make it easier for upstarts like AstraZeneca to muscle into an increasingly competitive obesity market. It’s potentially bad news for market leader Eli Lilly too.

Hot topics of 2024 will smoulder into new year

19 Dec 2024

Inflation in the United States, a struggling Chinese economy and Boeing’s existential challenges were among the stories that dominated this year. In this Viewsroom podcast, Breakingviews columnists explain why these issues – among others – will keep cropping up in 2025.

Obesity giants will begin $80 bln M&A face-off

17 Dec 2024

Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk will need to invest the war chests they are amassing from sales of weight-loss drugs. They could snap up rivals like Zealand Pharma, or forge into new areas, say by buying autoimmune player Argenx. Pressure to do deals raises the risk of overpaying.

AstraZeneca lacks good medicine for Chinese limbo

13 Dec 2024

Executives at the $205 bln drugmaker have been detained by Beijing, hitting its shares. One way for CEO Pascal Soriot to ringfence China risk from the rest of AstraZeneca might be to list or spin off the unit. Yet that might just highlight fresh reasons to mark down the stock.

Walgreens invites a Rube Goldberg buyout plan

12 Dec 2024

The flailing $8 bln drugstore would be a cheap target were it not for a $36 bln morass of debt, long-term leases and opioid liabilities. Yet a ruthless buyer could lean on cutting rents, chairman Stefano Pessina’s 17% stake and sellable bits to excavate whatever is left to save.

Drugmakers brace for US political side effects

5 Dec 2024

Donald Trump’s health agency nominee, Robert Kennedy, brings dangerous views on vaccines as well as skepticism about sky-high medicine prices. In this week’s Viewsroom, Breakingviews columnists discuss the impact on giants like Novo Nordisk and how other countries might react.

European pharma’s growth prescription: pivot to US

28 Nov 2024

Novartis, Novo Nordisk and regional rivals lost $86 bln in value over concerns about tariffs and other possible measures by President-elect Donald Trump. Stateside M&A and manufacturing moves could ease the pain and boost revenue. But hopping across the pond will mean paying up.

Brookfield has room to sweeten Spanish drug deal

20 Nov 2024

Grifols rejected a 6.5 billion euro offer from the Canadian firm and its founder family. That’s not surprising, given the offer is far from generous and the pharma company’s sales are recovering. Bruce Flatt’s group can afford to pay more and still clear an acceptable return.

Vaccine makers exposed to political pathogen

7 Nov 2024

President-elect Donald Trump wants Robert Kennedy to ‘run wild’ on public health policy. Details, as usual, are sketchy, and it may be hard to put the anti-jab activist in an official administration role. Even with him as a senior adviser, though, Moderna and GSK lack immunity.

Lilly’s weight loss let-down is all about timing

30 Oct 2024

The obesity drug maker shed $50 bln of market value after sales disappointed the assumption that rising supply would meet endless demand. It may be a blip due to slow marketing. But a valuation triple industry norms leaves Eli Lilly no room to fumble its window to extract value.

Sanofi sale is critical health check for mega LBOs

10 Oct 2024

The French pharma company is deciding whether to sell its consumer drugs unit to Clayton Dubilier & Rice or PAI for $17 bln, says Bloomberg. It helps that volatile equity markets make an alternative listing riskier. A successful deal could give large buyouts a shot in the arm.

Pfizer’s M&A disease brings activist cure

7 Oct 2024

The pharma giant generated over $30 bln of extra cash during the pandemic, then spent over twice as much on questionable deals. With shareholders sitting on a loss under CEO Albert Bourla, Starboard will push for a return to former CEO Ian Read’s parsimony.