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
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
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Pfizer Tests Waters For Major Acquisitions (PFE, AMGN, WYE, GILD, BMY, LLY, SGP, CELG, GENZ, BIIB)
It hasn’t taken long for the speculation machine to roll down Wall Street in 2009. A report from the FT over the weekend shows that Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) is willing to acquire some large rivals. We believe that this is a mere testing of the waters by the company now that its troubles have been persistent, but we also gave a whole list of these stocks in pharma and biotech which we feel are large enough to make an impact at the company. You can see our full synopsis on this at 24/7 Wall St. and here is the list of the names we included:
Stock (Ticker) MktCap
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $62.5B
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
JON OGG
January 5, 2009
What Lies Ahead in Biotech Mergers & Buyouts?
We have been digging around and around for days and weeks in the biotech sector. Our goal is to determine which merger candidates can occur and to gather an opinion of the M&A outlook for 2009. This is not going to be easy because of the bear market and because financing is now elusive.
The Genentech (NYSE: DNA) buyout by Roche has long been under question. First the speculation was that it would have to come at an increased buyout price above the $79 offer. Now there are just questions about the merger in its entirety. because of the Dollar strength, the cost for Roche is now much higher in local currency terms.
Mike Huckman of CNBC just today gave a report showing many mergers and noting that companies like Schering Plough (NYSE: SGP) has called biotech cheap and compelling.
Huckman also outlined the Dendreon (NASDAQ: DNDN) event for 2009, but without a prediction on which way PROVENGE’s binary event would work out. We also believe that Dendreon will be acquired IF the FDA allows PROVENGE to go on the market.
The M&A front has totally skipped and forgotten Amylin Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: AMLN). 2009 is likely going to be the make or break year.
Whether you like Obama and the new administration or not, one key sector which has been getting speculative investments after a near-decade hiatus is stem cell stocks. These are very speculative, even for biotech stocks. But they also hold the potential answers to many regenerative cures against diseases such as Alzheimer’s and more.
The one issue that will affect mergers in 2009 is an easy one to overlook because it is not scientific at all. CURRENCIES…….. If the US Dollar stays strong, these smaller $500 million to $2 billion biotech companies no longer are dirt cheap to Japanese or European acquirers.
Jon C. Ogg
December 1, 2008
JPMorgan Issues Coverage on Big Pharma Sector (BMY, LLY, PFE, WYE, MRK, SGP)
JPMorgan has come out with a relatively lackluster coverage in the Big Pharma sector, although not all calls are cautious.
Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY), Eli Lilly & Co. (NYSE: LLY), Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE), and Wyeth (NYSE: WYE) were all started in new coverage with “Neutral” ratings.
Merck (NYSE: MRK) and Schering-Plough (NYSE: SGP) were started as “Overweight” in new coverage this morning.
Jon Ogg
June 25, 2008
Solid Developments for Rheumatoid Arthritis (ABT, ARRY, LLY, INCY, JNJ, SGP, RHHBY)
If you have followed the news on arthritis and rheumatoid arthritis (“RA”) for very long, this was a good week for the possible treatments of the disease. The annual congress of the European League Against Rheumatism in Paris, France took place and this was the venue for many study announcements. This is only a snippet of the data and a snippet of the companies presenting, but some of the companies were Abbott Laboratories, Array, Eli Lilly, Incyte, J&J, Schering-Plough, and Roche. This is a very debilitating condition that affects millions in the US and globally as our populations are all aging.
Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT) announced that its long-term data from a study of 1,469 patients showed its drug Humira, in combination with a common treatment used to treat a type of arthritis pain, led to remission of the disease for up to seven years. After six months of therapy, patients’ symptoms improved, with additional improvements seen after two or more years.
Array BioPharma Inc. (NASDAQ: ARRY) reported on some additional positive results of its Phase I clinical trial of ARRY-162, its novel small molecule MEK inhibitor; and it reported positive results from a Phase I trial of ARRY-797, its modulator of inflammatory mediators in blood. The four-week study of ARRY-162 in patients with stable RA receiving continued doses, showed that ARRY-162 was well tolerated and with no patients that discontinued the study due to an adverse event. Its activity was predictable with no drug/drug interactions with ARRY-162 and methotrexate. ARRY-162 suppressed production of IL-1, IL-6 and TNF, suggesting that this treatment has the potential to reduce inflammation mediated by these cytokines in patients with RA.
Eli Lilly & Co. (NYSE: LLY) presented new data that suggests patients with osteoarthritis pain of the knee treated with 60 mg and 120 mg Cymbalta once daily experienced significant pain reduction. Patients taking duloxetine reported significant pain improvement compared to placebo within the first week of treatment that lasted throughout the 13-week trial. The results from a study of 231 patients were presented at the annual congress of the European League Against Rheumatism in Paris, France.
Incyte Corporation (NASDAQ: INCY) showed clinical results from a 28-day Phase IIa trial of INCB18424, its janus-associated kinase inhibitor, in patients with RA. Results from the first of four treatment groups demonstrated that the 15 mg twice-daily dose of INCB18424 was well tolerated and provided ACR20/50/70/90 response rates of 75%/50%/25%/17%, respectively, with responses seen as early as 1 week. These results suggest that INCB18424 has the potential to be more effective than currently available RA therapies.
J&J’s (NYSE: JNJ) Centocor and Schering-Plough Corporation (NYSE: SGP) showed data in their Phase III human anti-TNF-alpha monoclonal antibody study for an anti-TNF-alpha biologic therapy. Findings from two new Phase III studies showed that patients receiving every four-week injections of golimumab 50 mg and 100 mg and weekly methotrexate experienced significant improvements in the signs and symptoms of RA as well as in physical function and disease activity, with some patients achieving remission as measured by Disease Activity Score.
Roche Holding AG (OTC: RHHBY) said that it expects to increase sales of MabThera in 2008 compared to 2007 in the rheumatoid arthritis indication at the European League Against Rheumatism congress in Paris. Roche also noted that about 30% percent of rheumatoid arthritis patients who failed prior attempts to respond adequately to anti-TNF therapy saw some remission from the disease with Actemra. Rituximab results provide continued inhibition of structural damage after 2 years in patients with rheumatoid arthritis who had an inadequate response to tumor necrosis factor inhibition
And the best news is potentially for boozers. Scandinavian researchers conducted two studies, involving 2,750 people who drink alcohol regularly showing that it may reduce the risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis by up to 50%. This assessed environmental and genetic risk factors for rheumatoid arthritis; and 1,650 participants had the disease, and were questioned about their smoking and drinking habits. By the way, blowing out your liver isn’t a good substitute.
Jon Ogg
June 13, 2008
