Archive for the ‘Amylin pharmaceuticals’ Category

May
15

Buzz: Big Pharma suitors line up for a look at Amylin’s books

Posted under Amylin pharmaceuticals, AstraZeneca, Blog, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Carl Icahn, Companies, Diagnostics, Funding, M&A, Medical Devices, Medical Supply, Pharmaceuticals, Roche, Sanofi, Startups, Universities, Videos by john

One of the cardinal rules involved in deal-making focuses on the need to get as many buyers to the negotiating table as possible. The next big rule: Make sure everyone knows who's interested in bidding.

Amylin--while maintaining a strict no comment policy ever since initial reports appeared the Bristol-Myers Squibb ($BMY) had made an offer--has scored on both points with a Bloomberg report out this morning assessing the line of potential bidders queuing up to take a confidential look at the books. By the business news service's count, fed by an inside source, Pfizer ($PFE), AstraZeneca ($AZN) and Sanofi ($SNY) have all signed confidentiality agreements, joining Merck ($MRK), Takeda, Roche ($RHHBY) and Bristol-Myers Squibb at the auction block.

With a market cap of $4 billion, Amylin ($AMLN) can be bought for a reasonable enough sum, offering up product revenue and a background in diabetes development that would complement quite a few potential acquirers. Amylin spent $162 million last year on R&D. But its newly approved Bydureon could prove a much tougher sale than some would like to take on.

"Diabetes is an area companies either want a position in or want a stronger position in," Deutsche Bank analyst Mark Clark tells Bloomberg. "Amylin is not a massive financial stretch so it comes down to what companies' alternatives are, whether there are other synergies involved and who it makes the most sense to. Some companies are more desperate for revenue sources than others."

That last point on desperation indicates that AstraZeneca, at least, may be more willing than the others to pay a premium for Amylin. Sanofi, meanwhile, is reportedly undeterred that its experimental lixisenatide would compete with Amylin's drug roster. And that could leave Amylin--along with its advisers from Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs--right where it wants to be: At the center of a bidding war. Even Carl Icahn would have to admire that strategy.

- here's the story from Bloomberg

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Apr
23

Buzz: Amylin brings in the bankers to spur an auction

Posted under Amylin pharmaceuticals, AstraZeneca, Blog, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Companies, Diabetes, Diagnostics, Funding, lixisenatide, M&A, Medical Devices, Medical Supply, Pharmaceuticals, Startups, Universities, Videos by john

Amylin ($AMLN) has never confirmed or denied the much repeated story that it rejected a $22 per share bid for the company by Bristol-Myers Squibb ($BMY). And today it's refusing to comment on a fresh round of reports by Bloomberg and Reuters that the company has put itself on the auction block, bringing in the investment bankers to find a buyer willing to put up sufficient cash to close a deal.

Quoting sources, Bloomberg reports that Sanofi ($SNY) may be on the short list of potential bidders. The pharma giant has been hesitating, though, because it has a GLP-1 diabetes drug--lixisenatide--which would compete with Amylin. Product-hungry AstraZeneca ($AZN), which almost immediately was linked to a possible bid by analysts, told the business news service that it's scouting the field, but wouldn't comment directly on a possible offer for Amylin. And Reuters, which initially broke the story, added Merck ($MRK) and Takeda Pharmaceutical as possible bidders in its coverage.

All of the inside news on a buyout has been through sources, since Amylin has consistently refused to discuss the matter. That hasn't stopped Carl Icahn from moving in for a fresh kill, though. Icahn has sued Amylin to push a sale, looking to get into a proxy fight over a merger deal. Now Credit Suisse Group AG and Goldman Sachs Group can start moving behind the scenes to see if they can get a deal going that Amylin would like to talk about.

Amylin's shares had been suffering until BMS stepped up to make the rumored offer, starting a rally that has pushed the price past the $22 mark. Amylin is likely to be after the $31 or $32 price that Jefferies and BMO Capital Markets believe it's worth.

- here's the story from Reuters
- read the Bloomberg report

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Apr
10

Icahn sues Amylin in hopes a proxy fight will trigger sale

Posted under Amylin pharmaceuticals, Blog, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Carl Icahn, Companies, Diagnostics, Funding, Genzyme, ImClone, Medical Devices, Medical Supply, Pharmaceuticals, Startups, Universities, Videos by john

Carl Icahn is turning up the heat on Amylin Pharmaceuticals' board of directors. He filed suit against Amylin ($AMLN), claiming that because the company never told investors about Bristol-Myers Squibb's ($BMY) $22 a share offer to buy the company, the company shouldn't be allowed to enforce a rule requiring advance notice of new candidates for the board--opening the door to a bloody proxy fight.

The lawsuit, filed in Delaware, claims that Amylin "rejected a request to reopen the time for stockholders to provide notice" of new nominations to the board. Amylin's deadline for nominations to the board was set for Jan. 25, which came after the BMS offer but long before the takeover attempt was revealed.

Amylin swiftly rejected the claim, saying it was "without merit." Icahn owns 9% of Amylin's shares.

Icahn's strategy is familiar to anyone who has watched him push for the acquisition of ImClone or Genzyme, or new management at Biogen Idec ($BIIB). Once the offer was reported, he charged that Amylin's management was "dysfunctional." A proxy fight could expand his representation on the board and lead to a buyout, offering him another windfall to add to the fortune he's already made in the industry. And investors, who quickly bid up Amylin's stock past BMS' offer, are clearly hopeful of seeing the price go higher.

"Amylin is at a crossroads--it can be sold, now, at a significant premium, or it can continue to attempt to market its products, which may be lucrative if successful, but which entails substantial risk," Icahn's suit claims. "Stockholders of Amylin should be given the choice."

- here's the story from The Wall Street Journal
- get the story from Bloomberg
- read the report from Reuters

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Apr
06

Bristol stays in hunt for Amylin

Posted under Amylin pharmaceuticals, Blog, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Bydureon, Byetta, Companies, dapagliflozin, Diabetes, Diagnostics, Funding, M&A, Medical Devices, Medical Supply, Onglyza, Pharmaceuticals, Startups, Universities, Videos by rmcbride

Bristol-Myers Squibb ($BMY) still has eyes for Amylin Pharmaceuticals ($AMLN). After Amylin reportedly declined BMS' recent buyout offer, Bristol isn't giving up on its plans to gobble up the diabetes drugmaker, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday, citing unnamed sources familiar with the situation.

The news comes after Amylin balked at Bristol's $22-per-share cash offer, which company leaders deemed too low. Major Amylin shareholder and activist investor Carl Icahn is now on the case, calling for Amylin's management to launch a sales process and entice the kind of bidding that can ultimately benefit shareholders.

Amylin, the maker of the diabetes drug Byetta and the long-acting version Bydureon, is a company with sales growth and products that large pharma players desperately need. And the San Diego-based biotech is no behemoth, with 2011 revenue of $650.7 million and a market cap as of this morning of about $3.6 billion.

Amylin fits the size profile that New York-based Bristol has been known to target in previous buyouts, with its industry-famous "string of pearls" acquisition strategy that avoids megamergers and favors deals that can be easily digested organizationally. Bristol also has a stake in the growing diabetes market with the drug Onglyza and its experimental treatment dapagliflozin, and both of those drugs are partnered with AstraZeneca ($AZN), the WSJ reported.

- read the WSJ article

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Archive for the ‘Amylin pharmaceuticals’ Category

Buzz: Big Pharma suitors line up for a look at Amylin’s books

Buzz: Amylin brings in the bankers to spur an auction

Icahn sues Amylin in hopes a proxy fight will trigger sale

Bristol stays in hunt for Amylin