Diabetes & Insulin War About To Heat Up (MNKD, LLY, NVO, PFE, BMY, AZN, GERN)
MannKind Corp. (NASDAQ: MNKD) has not gone without its critics over the company’s inhaled insulin. The company has an upcoming review that will be a make or break event for the company. The company is about to face a potential do or die test next week as the FDA is set to decide the fate of the company’s inhaled insulin. MannKind’s Afresa is designed to deliver a fast acting insulin that is supposed to be more effective than the injected products. This would put the company in competition for insulin with Eli Lilly & Co (NYSE: LLY) and Novo Nordisk (NYSE: NVO) for their insulin delivery.
One of the biggest hurdles MannKind faces is that inhaled insulin products have been tried and tested by others, and they have failed or have fallen far short of the expectations set ahead of time. Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) discontinued its Exubera as an inhalable insulin.
- Lexicon Pharmacueticals (NASDAQ: LXRX) had a favorable Phase I reaction late last year in type 2 diabetes mellitus.
- These companies are all also fighting for their part of that next $170 billion market opportunity.
- Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) and AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN) already received FDA approval for Onglyza as an adjunct to diet and exercise to improve glycemic control in adults with type 2 diabetes.
- Geron Corporation (NASDAQ: GERN) is still a ways off for the stem cell angle here compared to its other stem cell endeavors, although you never know when stem cell companies will make periodic announcements.
The FDA is set to make a ruling on Afresa’s approval by January 16, which means that the JAN-2010 CALL options may or may not expire before such ruling is made. The FDA can always delay, and some reports hint at a later date now.
Read more
BioHealth Job Cuts Keep Coming (AZN, PFE, BSX, BMY, LLY, JNJ)
It used to be that pharmaceutical jobs and medical device maker jobs were among the best and most immune of all sectors in the economy. They paid well, there was job security, the benefits were solid, stock option and retirement plans were always growing, and on. That is still the case in many positions inside those companies. But mergers, competition, efficiency, redundancy, and a new spending environment are changing this for many jobs in these once-safe sector.
Mergers have led to many “efficiencies” to be realized, and allowed “redundancies” (i.e. low-yield jobs and departments) to be eliminated. And now there is an ongoing threat to the sector from Washington. While the target has gone away from all of healthcare to health insurance, we are still seeing the announcement from major companies of more job cuts. We have compiled a few of the latest found announcements, ad this is just a part of the whole pie.
AstraZeneca PLC (NYSE: AZN) is reportedly offering buyouts “to thousands of its near-5,000 workers” from its U.S. sales force.
Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) has outlined more job cuts from its Wyeth combination as part of a projected 15% cut to the combined Pfizer-Wyeth team. What this number will ultimately come to is still unknown, and Pfizer’s head count had already fallen by over 6,000 to 75,400 at the end of last quarter.
Boston Scientific (NYSE: BSX) had job cuts a couple years ago, and it appears that the job cuts may not be over. Recent health reform legislation from the Senate Finance Committee was noted by its CEO as being an event which could potentially trigger another 1,000 to 2,000 job cuts.
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (NYSE: BMY) has been in an ongoing 10,000 layoff mode since last year, but in the last week came word that about 25% of its Abilify antipsychotic drug sales force after an evaluation from its co-marketing pact with Otsuka Corp. These were recent cuts and are still unquantified.
Eli Lilly and Co. (NYSE: LLY) announced last month that it is targeting $1 billion in savings… with the elimination of up to 5,500 jobs total by some time in 2011.
This summer came the announcement from Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) about its plan to cut up a range of 3,615 to to 4,800 jobs. That is a small amount considering the number of deals it has made and considering it has 120,000 employees.
JON C. OGG
OCTOBER 20, 2009
BioHealth Earnings Floodgates Opening (BSX, BIIB, GILD, ISRG, PFE, DGX, SYK, AMGN, ELN, LLY, GENZ, STJ, BMY, MRK, SGP, ZMH)
Next week is going to be the mother of all earnings reports for the BioHealth community. We have included the key device companies as well in this calendar with the routine top drug and biotech companies. As a reminder, these estimates may change between now and when some of the players report earnings. In the screens for earnings we have the estimates included listed as the Thomson Reuters consensus figures.
MONDAY OCTOBER 19
- Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE: BSX) $0.14 EPS on $2.04 billion in revenues
TUESDAY OCTOBER 20
- Biogen Idec Inc. (NASDAQ: BIIB) $1.04 EPS on $1.11 billion in revenues
- Gilead Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD) $0.67 EPS on $1.76 billion in revenues
- Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ: ISRG) $1.46 EPS and $256.44 million in revenues
- Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) $0.48 EPS and $11.4 billion in revenues
- Quest Diagnostics Inc. (NYSE: DGX) $0.96 EPS and $1.89 billion in revenues
- Stryker Corp. (NYSE: SYK) $0.69 EPS and $$1.62 billion in revenues
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 21
- Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN) $1.27 EPS and $3.79 billion in revenues
- Elan Corporation, plc (NYSE: ELN) -$0.13 EPS on $285.18 million in revenues
- Eli Lilly & Co. (NYSE: LLY) $1.01 EPS and $5.4 billion in revenues
- Genzyme Corporation (NASDAQ: GENZ) $0.44 EPS and $1.11 billion in revenues
- St. Jude Medical, Inc. (NYSE: STJ) $0.58 EPS and $1.16 billion in revenues
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22
- Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) $0.51 EPS and $5.5 billion in revenues
- Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE: MRK) $0.83 EPS and $6 billion in revenues
- Schering-Plough Corporation (NYSE: SGP) $0.39 EPS and $4.45 billion in revenues
- Zimmer Holdings Inc. (NYSE: ZMH) $0.86 EPS and $953.6 million in revenues
JON C. OGG
OCTOBER 16, 2009
BioHealth’s Top Stock Moves (AMLN, BMY, DNDN, DEPO, MRNA, ONXX)
Some of today’s top movers in biotech and the world of BioHealth are Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMLN), Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (NYSE: BMY), Dendreon Corporation (NASDAQ: DNDN), DepoMed Inc. (NASDAQ: DEPO), MDRNA, Inc. (NASDAQ: MRNA), and Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ONXX).
Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMLN) has seen little reaction after an activist investors has exited from the position in Amylin. A weekend SEC filing showed that Eastbourne Capital has liquidated its Amylin stake after having previously held a 9.5% stake. Reports put the reason as frustration with management. The positive read is that this one will no longer have at least one group publicly pushing it. And the bad is that this is a show of force of a loss of confidence. Shares are effectively flat at $14.20.
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (NYSE: BMY) is trading higher this morning after Goldman Sachs listed it as one of its top candidates for a drug merger out there. Be advised that after a 1.2% gain to $22.75 today this one has a market cap of some $45 billion. Even if a billion isn’t what it used to be and even if a foreign buyer might perceive a 20% currency discount opportunity today, that is a very large number.
Dendreon Corporation (NASDAQ: DNDN) is running again on new solid board member additions to help it transition from an R&D company to a manufacturing company. These are Ian Clark, the CEO of Roche’s Genentech unit, and Pedro Granadillo, a former Eli Lilly (LLY) manufacturing executive. These are viewed as top brass to help the company transition from pre-revenue into a revenue generator (when and if its PROVENGE gets approved). Shares are up almost 8% at $29.58 on over 3 million shares as of 11:30 AM EST.
DepoMed Inc. (NASDAQ: DEPO) has been hit very hard on mixed news that its Phase III clinical data for its menopausal hot-flash treatment Serada was a disappointment. The study for hot flashes drug met only 1 goal at 12 weeks. Despite the results, Depomed remains hopeful about the program and said it plans to discuss these results with the FDA. It seems as though that traders are shooting DepoMed first and may or may not ask questions later. Around 11:30 AM EST we have seen 6.9 million shares, and DepoMed is down over 38% at $3.90.
MDRNA, Inc. (NASDAQ: MRNA) is trading up substantially higher on news that UsiRNA reduces tumor growth in vivo, where the company showed data demonstrating continued progress in the advancement of its oncology program. MDRNA’s UsiRNAs is delivered by the company’s DiLA2 platform that showed subsequent reductions in tumor growth in models of liver and bladder cancer. Shares are up 29% at $1.60 on over 5.5 million shares.
Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ONXX) has been one of the long-standing stocks in the rumor mill that has been noted as a possible buyout candidate. Today the company made a deal of its own and shares are up despite the notion that acquirers usually trade off. Onyx signed a definitive agreement to acquire Proteolix, Inc., a privately held biotech focused on discovering and developing novel therapies that target the proteasome for the treatment of hematological malignancies and solid tumors. The deal is valued at $276 million, but could ultimately end up being worth some $851 million. Onyx shares are up 7% at $28.81 on over 3.3 million shares.
JON C. OGG
October 12, 2009
Price snapshots all taken as of 11:30 AM EST
Seattle Genetics' Boosted Secondary… Takeover Defense? (SGEN, BMY, MEDX, BAY, CRGN, PGNX, AZN)
Seattle Genetics, Inc. (NASDAQ: SGEN) is one of those companies in the world of biotech and biohealth which some have believed would be an ultimate takeover target. The issue is that some companies either do not have enough funding on their own to secure a deal under the terms they would prefer. Other companies want to grow and thrive on their own in the quest to become the next mega-blockbuster producer on the block. So the news of an offering of common stock from Seattle Genetics, Inc. would now put the company in the second category, or so it may seem.
Seattle Genetics priced a secondary offering of 11,000,000 shares of common stock at $10.75 per share. The gross proceeds from the sale are expected to be approximately $118.2 million and should close on or about August 17, 2009. The good news is that all of the shares in the offering are being sold by Seattle Genetics. The other bit of good news is that the demand must have been strong. The announcement was made Monday that it would sell 9 million shares, yet this pricing is for 11 million shares.
The company said that the use of funds will be used to fund R&D, including manufacturing activities and clinical trials for its proprietary product candidates, build-out of a commercial infrastructure and for general corporate purposes, including working capital.
The company also has a very high profile group of companies as the underwriters.
J.P. Morgan and Goldman Sachs are the joint book-running managers; Needham, Oppenheimer, RBC Capital Markets, and William Blair are all listed as the co-managers of the offering. The underwriters have a 30-day option to purchase up to 1,650,000 additional shares of common stock to cover over-allotments.
Back in July this stock was under $10.00. Then came several developments. It reported earnings, Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) announced the acquisition of Medarex (NASDAQ: MEDX), then the company announced the initiation of Phase II trials of brentuximab vedotin (SGN-35) for lymphoma. Then this week came the announcement that Seattle Genetics had achieved a milestone under its antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) collaboration agreement with MedImmune, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of AstraZeneca, after MedImmune’s initiation of a phase I clinical trial of MEDI-547 for solid tumors.
Seattle Genetics has an exclusive worldwide collaboration agreement with Roche’s Genentech for the development and commercialization of dacetuzumab (SGN-40). Under the agreement, Genentech paid us $60 million upfront, and has agreed to pay potentially more than $800 million in milestones and escalating double-digit royalties starting in the mid-teens on annual product sales. In addition, Genentech funds research, development, manufacturing and commercialization costs. Seattle Genetics also has an option for co-promotion rights on dacetuzumab in the U.S.
The company has licensed its antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) technology to Genentech, Bayer (NYSE: BAY), CuraGen Corp. (NASDAQ: CRGN), Progenics Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: PGNX), Daiichi Sankyo, AstraZeneca’s (NYSE: AZN) MedImmune, and Takeda’s Millennium. These collaborations all involve upfront cash payments, milestones and royalties on net sales of products incorporating Seattle Genetics’ ADC technology. The licensees are responsible for development, manufacturing and commercialization of any ADC product candidates that result from the collaborations.
Another deal is in place as a co-development agreement with Agensys, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Astellas Pharma. In this the companies will jointly develop ADC products where Agensys provides proprietary targets and monoclonal antibodies to be utilized with Seattle Genetics’ proprietary ADC technology. The companies share research and development costs on up to two ADC products, and share equally in any profits.
Shares closed down over 7% at $10.99 in anticipation of the secondary offering and the stock’s 52-week range is $6.81 to $13.40. The company has been public since 2001 and has spent the bulk of the time from early 2007 to now trading in a range of $8.00 to $12.00. Its market before the effects of any secondary offering was $947 million after Tuesday’s drop. SGEN is also a stock with a high short interest: in mid-July it had over 5.5 million shares in the short interest, about 13.9 days worth of average trading volume.
This is still very much a research and development stage company. Analysts are only looking for about $38 million in revenues for 2009 and about $54 million in revenues in 2010. Until its products are closer to commercialization, losses are expected well beyond this year and next.
JON C. OGG
Diabetes Drug War Heats Up (NVO, AMLN, LLY, MNKD, PFE, SPEX, VVUS, GNBT, BMY, AZN, ARNA, GERN, STEM, OREX, HDIX, PODD)
Over the last couple of weeks, there has been quite a bit of new data in the drug war in the fight against diabetes. New studies have been updated, earnings projections have been made, FDA dates have been telegraphed and more. While these are still far short of ultimate cures, the war against diabetes may have many new or improved treatments out sooner rather than later. We originally discussed one or two of the key upcoming treatments pending for the eight major diseases and conditions as “the next $170 billion opportunity” and this is a much deeper dig into that broad initiation. We have included many of the recent developments in the potential treatments for obesity as well, considering that Type II diabetes and obesity are frequently conditions tied directly to each other.
According to the Journal of Health Affairs, the figure on obesity for Americans is a whopping $147 billion per year in total medical costs. This comes to 10% of all healthcare spending. The figure from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control was some $116 billion spent domestically on treating diabetes in 2007. As this is a lengthy bit, we have not included some of the other treatments that have been in use or that were recently flagged because of reports of higher chances of cancer rates associated by the long-term use of these.
FDA & IMMEDIATE ACTION
There is a new diabetes hopeful that is supposed to be coming sooner rather than later. Novo Nordisk (NYSE: NVO) reported a 21% gain in earnings in the last week and said that it expects the FDA to make a decision on its next-generation diabetes drug Victoza (liraglutide) in a matter of weeks. The company’s CFO and CEO both indicated that the Danish company does expects a positive response from the FDA and we heard a August to September expectation. Novo Nordisk has already launched Victoza in England, Germany and Denmark last month and expects to release it in other European Union countries throughout 2009 and into 2010. The benefit is that this one doesn’t risk pushing blood glucose levels to counts which are dangerously low and it also helps users lose weight. Novo Nordisk said it has priced Victoza competitively with Byetta from Amylin Pharmaceutical, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMLN) and Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY). After the earnings and after shares were still close to 52-week highs, we saw analyst downgrades on Friday for Novo Nordisk by both UBS and by J.P. Morgan.
The drug still expected the next big new release with Blockbuster potential is an inhalable insulin from MannKind Corp. (NASDAQ: MNKD). Afresa is to be its name. Despite past woes of inhalable insulin, MannKind shares were hitting 52-week highs in June and its shares are still up 20% from three months ago. A late-stage study showed that Afresa’s performance was similar to injectable insulin. The company recently sold a 7.4 million shares secondary offering to raise cash for this launch, and its CEO took 1 million shares of the offering. The thought was that MannKind would secure a partner for marketing and development, but the recent stock offering gives it more internal options ahead of what is believed to be a Spring-2010 FDA approval action. Pfizer Inc (NYSE: PFE) has been thought of as a partner as it moved Exubera inhaled-insulin patients to MannKind’s experimental product. The two companies had been partners until Pfizer pulled Exubera from the market in 2007.
There is also a huge opportunity for the once per week dosing. We are not yet convinced that this can be a universal next generation treatment, however this might be fine for many of the lower grade cases if you can refer to any diabetes cases as lower grade. Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMLN), Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY) and Alkermes Inc. (NASDAQ: ALKS) have had a recent New Drug Application accepted by the FDA for review. Exenatide is an investigational sustained release medication for type 2 diabetes that would be injected once per week and is the active ingredient in BYETTA. We are not alone in this thought, but Amylin is a company which many have thought would be acquired for years now when considering the link of diabetes and obesity.
VIVUS, Inc. (NASDAQ: VVUS) has a substantial shot here with Qnexa, its Type 2 diabetes treatment through weight loss assistance. The stock recently came off on worries of its risk factor language that may have to be disclosed, but it showed a 9.4% weight loss or over 20 pounds observed in patients. The DM-230 study was a 56-week study assessing the impact of Qnexa on glycemic management in 130 obese patients. The 10-site study was comprised of 90 females and 40 males with an average age of 50 who had Type 2 diabetes, and a majority of the patients had been diagnosed with diabetes for more the five years and were taking two or more oral diabetes medications. In the phase II and phase III clinical trials, Qnexa demonstrated glycemic control, significant weight loss, and an improvement in cardiovascular risk factors. VIVUS is also presenting data at a brokerage firm conference this coming Thursday. The company’s market cap is still just under $500 million and its most recent balance sheet had north of $144 million in cash and equivalents with very little long term debt.
Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) and AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN) have recently received FDA approval for Onglyza as an adjunct to diet and exercise to improve glycemic control in adults with type 2 diabetes. This Onglyza is a once-daily dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP4) inhibitor that can be used in combination with commonly prescribed anti-diabetic medications or on a standalone basis as a monotherapy to significantly reduce glycosylated hemoglobin levels.
MORE OBESITY CANDIDATES COMING
Several biotechnology companies are working on the next wave of obesity candidates, as noted above in VIVUS’s Qnexa. Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ARNA) has Lorcaserin, Orexigen Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: OREX) has Contrave, and Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: AMLN) has pramlintide. Orexigen’s Contrave has completed phase III trials and our time line for when the company will file for approval is in early 2010. The company is presenting data this Thursday at the Canaccord Adams Global Growth Conference. VIVUS’s Qnexa is currently in two phase III programs with a new drug application expected around the middle of 2010. Amylin’s pramlintide and metreleptin are currently in phase IIb.
We have the expectation that Arena will have a first-mover advantage with an NDA planned before the end of 2009. Certainly, any delays or advances could change the status of the front-runner category leadership. Arena’s near-term catalyst is the release of the phase III BLOSSOM data out in September 2009, which will be used as part of a supplemental NDA in late 2009 or into 2010. This still leaves a year or more for final FDA action from now. Arena shares surged in late-July after reporting that its obesity results met the three endpoints.
STEM CELLS
Stem Cell therapy offers a huge promise, but so far that looks to be years out and the promise is actually more of a hope for the time being. Geron Corporation (NASDAQ: GERN) is in the research stage of using stem cells in evaluation of Type 1 diabetes. The exact level of this study is not as far as along as some of its cancer and spinal studies, but this is one of the few stem cell companies that have dedicated part of their mission to diabetes. StemCells Inc. (NASDAQ: STEM) also has a Pancreatic Program concentrating its efforts on Type-I diabetes. Its goals are to identify, isolate, and culture pancreatic stem and progenitor cells, and to test their therapeutic potential.
While we at BioHealthInvestor would love to hold hope and promise for stem cells, we would not be hoping for stem cell treatments any time in the near future. While some positive notions have been noted in the stem cell sector, the National Institute of Health noted, “Over the past several years, doctors have attempted to cure diabetes by injecting patients with pancreatic islet cells—the cells of the pancreas that secrete insulin and other hormones. However, the requirement for steroid immunosuppressant therapy to prevent rejection of the cells increases the metabolic demand on insulin-producing cells and eventually they may exhaust their capacity to produce insulin. The deleterious effect of steroids is greater for islet cell transplants than for whole-organ transplants. As a result, less than 8 percent of islet cell transplants performed before last year had been successful.”
New Eli Lilly drug may not be an early threat to Plavix (LLY, SNY, BMY)
Eli Lilly late Friday got the FDA’s OK to market its Effient blood thinner, but the black-box warning on its label is so strong that it’s hard to believe it can dent the market share of the Sanofi Aventis (NYSE: SNY)/ Bristol Myers Inc. (NYSE: BMY) drug Plavix.
Effient must carry a warning that tells of the potential for significant, sometimes fatal bleeding. The label recommends against its use in patients with a history of heart attack or stroke. And it’s not generally recommended for anyone over age 75.
The warning may be strong enough to put a scare into patients, and potentially doctors who must prescribe the drug. At first blush, it is hard to believe that some analysts believe it can generate as much as $2 billion a year in revenue for Lilly over time.
Plavix may be the older drug, and it even may be less effective, according to the study data. But it carries no such warning.
At minimum, adoption of Effient may be slow due to the warning. It’s certainly not a panacea for shareholders who saw Effient as way for Lilly to counter the effect of looming patent expirations. — Mike Tarsala
Dendreon climbs early on Provenge optimism (DNDN, SNY, BMY, GSK)
Dendreon (Nasdaq: DNDN) shares are among the market’s most active in the premarket as of 9 a.m. Eastern, up more than 5 percent with nearly 80,000 shares traded, following a price target increase at a boutique research firm.
Meriman reiterated a Buy rating and raised its target on Dendreon to the $49 to $50 range, up from a previous range to $33 to $34. The firm said it believes that based on the favorable safety profile of Provenge, it could gain significant market share in treating prostate cancer.
The firm added that partnerships are possible in the upcoming months, and the firm sees Sanofi-Aventis (NYSE: SNY), Bristol Myers (NYSE: BMY) or GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK) as potential partners.
Full 2009 ASCO Cancer & Oncology Primer (ABII, AEZS, ALTH, AMGN, APPA, ARQL, BMY, CLDX, CELG, CTIC, CGRB, LLY, EXEL, GHDX, GSK, IMGN, MEDX, MDVN, MITI, OGXI, OSIP, PPHM, PFE, ROSG, SNTA, TRBN, ZIOP, ZGEN)
We have already seen a massive round of abstracts ahead of the huge American Society of Clinical Oncology, or ASCO meeting for 2009, which is scheduled to start this weekend. ASCO is usually thought of as the Holy Grail of cancer conferences and these abstracts and presentations are viewed by investors, analysts, clinicians, doctors, and by cancer patients.
We compiled a brief synopsis for the following drug and biotech companies: Abraxis BioScience, Inc. (NASDAQ:ABII), AEterna Zentaris Inc. (NASDAQ: AEZS), Allos Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: ALTH), Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN), A.P. Pharma, Inc. (Nasdaq: APPA), Arqule Inc. (NASDAQ: ARQL), Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY), Celldex Therapeutics (NASDAQ: CLDX), Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ: CELG), Cell Therapeutics (NASDAQ: CTIC), Cougar Biotechnology, Inc. (NASDAQ: CGRB), Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY), Exelixis (NASDAQ: EXEL), Genomic Health, Inc. (NASDAQ: GHDX), GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK) , Immunogen (NASDAQ: IMGN), Medarex (NASDAQ: MEDX), Medivation, Inc. (NASDAQ: MDVN), Micromet, Inc. (NASDAQ: MITI), OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: OGXI), OSI Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: OSIP), Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: PPHM), Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE), Rosetta Genomics (NASDAQ:ROSG), Synta Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: SNTA), Trubion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: TRBN), ZIOPHARM Oncology (NASDAQ: ZIOP), and ZymoGenetics, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZGEN).
Be advised that some of the data may have been changed since the first abstracts came out, but this is an expansive list of companies with data.
Read more
More Evidence Big Pharma Ready To Acquire Biotechs (MRK, PFE, WYE, GILD, BMY, LLY, SGP, CELG, GENZ, BIIB)
We have covered on numerous occasions about how the larger Big Pharma companies either need to or have signaled an openness to making acquisitions in the biotech sector or in the smaller drug companies. Today it was Merck & Co. (NYSE: MRK) out speaking and testing the waters to see how Wall Street would react if it decides to go make a decent buyout. The company said at a Goldman Sachs investor conference in New York that it has the resources to make to significant acquisitions.
Merck’s $62 billion market cap does not allow the company to go after ANY deal it chooses. Here were the estimated sizes of the drugs and biotech players we noted earlier this week when Pfizer was out testing the waters. Actually, these are the ones with market caps that are far enough under that of Merck:
Stock (Ticker) MktCap
Wyeth (WYE) $51.1B
Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD) $47.5B
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (BMY) $47.3B
Eli Lilly & Co. (LLY) $46.1B
Schering-Plough Corp. (SGP) $28.2B
Celgene Corporation (CELG) $25.9B
Genzyme Corp. (GENZ) $18.4B
Biogen Idec Inc. (BIIB) $14.1B
Read more
Latest from 247Wallst.com- Latest from VSInvestor
- Top Day Trader Alerts (AEO, AIG, C, FACT, FNM, FRE, SOLR, ITMN)
- Russell 2000 Top Performers Since the Crash (ATSG, AXL, ARM, BZ, CKEC, CTIC, CNO, GPRE, HGSI, LZB, PIR, PWER, PMI, UIS, VNDA)
- Top Day Trader Alerts (CSCO, CNAM, NBG, FSLR, JSDA, DRYS, FEED, BWEN, FMD)
- DryShips… Rumors of a Rumor (DRYS)
- Is the SIRIUS Washout Nearly Finished? (SIRI)
