Pharmaceuticals

Pfizer and Glaxo may find romance over the counter

10 Oct 2017

The $215 bln U.S. drugmaker is preparing to detach its consumer-goods unit, and its British rival is a logical owner. Folding the Advil maker into GlaxoSmithKline’s existing venture with Novartis would be logical, provided CEO Emma Walmsley can whip the business into shape.

Holding: Allergan exposes patent-reform quackery

2 Oct 2017

The $70 bln drugmaker's fishy deal with Native Americans may impede a U.S. tribunal from cracking down on such rights. Weak rules in the forum also face review in the new Supreme Court term. With luck, the pushback will lead to better remedies for flawed intellectual property.

Canadian $3.6 bln grocery deal puts price on fear

2 Oct 2017

Metro is buying pharmacy chain Jean Coutu. The value creation from the proposed deal, though, is less than the premium being paid. That doesn’t sound good for Metro investors – but threats from Amazon and a rapidly consolidating sector might have been worse.

Bloated U.S. healthcare spending has silver lining

21 Sep 2017

The first drug that works by silencing targeted genes by Alnylam is heading for FDA approval. It’s hot on the heels of another that treats cancer by using modified immune cells. New therapies are proliferating, thanks in part to America’s unsustainably large healthcare budget.

Fosun beats the odds with revamped Indian deal

18 Sep 2017

The Chinese conglomerate’s drug unit will buy a smaller 74 pct of KKR-backed Gland Pharma for $1.1 bln. That shows Beijing is still open to sensible foreign deals. And despite a recent border spat, India is open to Chinese money, especially if deals are carefully structured.

China’s drugmakers boast Big Pharma option value

18 Sep 2017

The U.S. listing of Zai Lab highlights a new breed of innovative eastern upstarts specializing in drugs made from living cells. Some have already won financial backing by Western rivals. It is one reason to believe China can produce the world’s next blockbuster drug.

Teva’s new chief faces a tricky recovery

11 Sep 2017

Installing former Lundbeck boss Kare Schultz as CEO has given the Israeli drugmaker’s shares a shot in the arm. The new boss now needs to cut costs, and manage the group’s $35 bln debt pile. That’s hard given Teva’s challenges, and a tough market for generic drugs.

Cheap genetic tests leave insurers exposed

8 Sep 2017

23andme’s value is getting a 50 pct booster shot thanks to its simple, affordable way of checking if you’re a high risk for Alzheimer’s and the like. Those who are may want more health, life and disability coverage. That will make the dysfunctional U.S. healthcare system worse.

Elliott shows tail wags dog in German M&A

4 Sep 2017

The U.S. investor has nudged Bain and Cinven into paying minority shareholders in drugmaker Stada 12 pct more than others got last month. Germany’s odd rules and passive investing make it all too easy for holdouts who own small stakes to throw their weight around.

Elliott’s Stada shakedown is cheeky but rational

31 Aug 2017

The hedge fund wants the private equity firms buying drugmaker Stada to pay 74.40 euros for its minority stake. That’s nearly 50 pct above the firm’s value before Bain and Cinven began bidding. Yet Elliott has a point: the buyers could pay up and still make a respectable return.

U.S. CEOs can afford principled stand against Trump

14 Aug 2017

Merck boss Ken Frazier quit a White House council to protest the president’s dismal response to Charlottesville. National duty, ego and fear of a Twitter rebuke may have kept CEOs in their seats. But with little to show for staying, resigning would limit further political taint.

Generic-drug firms rue pricing and borrowing binge

9 Aug 2017

The business of selling knockoff pills is suffering as regulators pull down barriers, competition mounts and buyers demand big discounts. The toxic mix of falling prices and piles of debt already hurt Mylan, Valeant and Teva. Their latest earnings show the hangover enduring.

AstraZeneca drug flop is bad, not terminal

27 Jul 2017

A cancer treatment failed to live up to high hopes, wiping as much as $14 billion off the company’s value. The outlook for the UK drugmaker and its boss Pascal Soriot is suddenly more uncertain. But there are other areas of growth – and Astra is now an easier takeover target.

AstraZeneca’s 3 billion pound CEO is overvalued

13 Jul 2017

That is how much was wiped off the drugmaker’s market value after a website reported Chief Executive Pascal Soriot will join Teva. Any such exit would hardly inspire confidence, coming after another senior departure and before a key medical trial. But the reaction is excessive.

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.

German takeover regime is loser from Stada saga

10 Jul 2017

Regulators blessed a slightly higher 5.3 bln euro offer for the drugmaker from Bain and Cinven. The decision frees the buyout firms from a one-year wait after a previous bid failed. Though Stada and its shareholders cheered, the victory makes German M&A less predictable.

FDA moves signal storm warning for pharma

29 Jun 2017

New commissioner Scott Gottlieb is wasting no time combating high prices. The U.S. agency will expedite reviews of generic-drug applications to promote competition. The changes will batter the likes of Valeant and Cardinal Health, and cast a cloud over branded drug makers.

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.

Stada fiasco has roots in flawed German M&A rules

27 Jun 2017

Bain and Cinven’s 5.3 billion euro offer for the drugmaker collapsed despite a 49 percent premium. While the bidders may have a second go, the debacle is a lesson in how investment strategies that exploit misguided takeover rules can go terribly wrong.

Lab deal tests positive for overexcitement

20 Jun 2017

A wave of consolidation and buyouts among drug outsourcers generated plenty of bids for latest target Parexel. The prospect for cost cuts ought to have given rival companies the upper hand. Yet private-equity shop Pamplona won by offering $4.5 bln, suggesting it paid too much.