Archive for the ‘Bristol-Myers Squibb’ Category

May
16

Cancer drug experts brace for ASCO abstract dump tonight

Posted under ASCO, Blog, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Companies, dabrafenib, Diagnostics, Funding, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, Medical Devices, Medical Supply, personalized medicine, Pfizer, Pharmaceuticals, Pipeline, Roche, Startups, trametinib, Universities, Videos, Xalkori, Zytiga by john

Tonight's the big night for cancer drug watchers. ASCO is releasing a mountain of data on cancer studies, and some of the biggest names in the business will be angling for star billing on some closely watched therapies.

Peter Loftus at Dow Jones lists Pfizer ($PFE), GlaxoSmithKline ($GSK) and Johnson & Johnson ($JNJ) among the big names that will be featured tonight. But Bristol-Myers Squibb ($BMY) and Roche (T-DM1) plan to hold back on the headlines until the confab in Chicago gets under way.

For GSK, dabrafenib and trametinib are slated for top billing. Together, the two therapies could earn more than $700 million a year, Cowen reports. Pfizer, meanwhile, will be looking to make a case to expand the approval for Xalkori while J&J will make a case for Zytiga.

As Loftus notes in his report, one of the big themes this year will be the continued focus on personalized medicine, as investigators look for better results from cancer therapies targeted to specific patient populations.

- here's the story from Dow Jones

Special Report: Top 10 Late-Stage Cancer Drugs – 2012

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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
27

Bristol turns to blockbuster pipeline as Plavix goes generic

Posted under Blog, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Companies, Diagnostics, Eliquis, Funding, Generic, Hepatitis C, M&A, Medical Devices, Medical Supply, Pharmaceuticals, Pipeline, Plavix, Startups, Universities, Videos, Yervoy by rmcbride

Bristol-Myers Squibb ($BMY) has enticed other drugmakers to mimic its strategy of buying up mid-sized biotechs, and the New York-based pharma has seen some of those bets pay off with approvals of drugs such as Yervoy, acquired from Medarex ($MEDX). With clot-buster Plavix facing generic competition, the company is banking on some more wins in its pipeline to replace revenue from declining sales of its top seller.

Plavix sales slipped 4% in the first quarter to $1.69 billion, while sales of newer meds such as melanoma treatment Yervoy and hepatitis B drug Baraclude made solid gains, Bloomberg reported. And the news service provided some analysis on the role of the company's top pipeline prospects, which promise to enable Bristol to weather the loss of Plavix to generics if approved.

For starters, the FDA is expected to make a decision on approval of Eliquis, Bristol and Pfizer's ($PFE) potential blockbuster blood thinner, by June 28. In the meantime, analysts are keeping an eye on Bristol's progress in the development of oral treatments for hepatitis C that don't require injections of interferon. Bristol upped its stake in the oral hepatitis C race in January with the $2.5 billion buyout of Inhibitex ($IHNX), and recently the company hitched up with Johnson & Johnson and Medivir on an interferon-free combo therapy.

"We want to understand how [HepC is] going to fit into things," Les Funtleyder, an analyst and portfolio manager at Miller Tabak & Co., told Bloomberg. "There's going to be some combination therapy, and it almost certainly requires some partnering, because not everybody's going to have all that's required."

- check out Bloomberg's article

Special Report: Eliquis - 15 top blockbuster contenders

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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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Archive for the ‘Bristol-Myers Squibb’ Category

Cancer drug experts brace for ASCO abstract dump tonight

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

Bristol turns to blockbuster pipeline as Plavix goes generic

Buzz: Amylin brings in the bankers to spur an auction