By Tracy Staton Three deals now in the works embody three very different trends. Yet another Japanese drugmaker is expanding westward by snapping up a smaller pharma company. A U.S. company is buying a drug-development firm for access to a potential new med. And a potential sale in the Middle East has fallen into limbo …
By John Carroll Don’t expect Merck KGaA to announce any big takeover deals this year. But everything else is on the table, including licensing pacts, R&D alliances and small buyouts. That’s the word from Chief Executive Karl-Ludwig Kley, who says his primary task this year will be the absorption of Millipore. After that the company …
By Maureen Martino Pharma and biotech companies have long recognized academia as a rich source of innovative early research. Companies cherry-pick the most promising projects and license them from the universities where they originated, ending academic involvement. But GlaxoSmithKline is adopting a new approach, says the Financial Times. The pharma plans to work closely with medical researchers over the …
By Tracy Staton Novartis ($NVS) CEO Joe Jimenez (photo) has a shopping list, and he’s not afraid to share it. At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Jimenez chatted about his appetite for deals with theWall Street Journal and with Reuters, saying that the drugmaker will be able to pay down debt and buy back stock, all while snapping up select …
By John Carroll After three years of partnering with Switzerland’s Neurimmune Therapeutics on antibody discovery programs targeting the CNS field, Biogen Idec ($BIIB) has opted to seal their deal with a pact to acquire one of its subsidiaries outright for up to $427.5 million. The package kicks off with a $32.5 million upfront and follows with …
By John Carroll GlaxoSmithKline’s ($GSK) chief strategy officer expects to see more big M&A deals roil the industry, but he doesn’t expect his own company to be in the middle of any major buyouts. “There will undoubtedly be more M&A,” David Redfern allowed at the Reuters Health Summit. “There will probably be more mega-deals, largely caused by …
