Archive for the ‘Bydureon’ Category

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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Apr
04

AstraZeneca scouts new drug deals to silence a chorus of critics

Posted under Amylin pharmaceuticals, AstraZeneca, Blog, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Bydureon, Companies, David Brennan, Diagnostics, Funding, M&A, Martin Mackay, Medical Devices, Medical Supply, MedImmune, Pharmaceuticals, Startups, Universities, Videos by john

The instant the news hit that Amylin had rebuffed a $3.5 billion buyout offer from Bristol-Myers Squibb ($BMY), analysts began to speculate that AstraZeneca might like to step in and make an offer the Amylin board couldn't refuse. The reasoning was simple: AstraZeneca ($AZN) CEO David Brennan needed to do something dramatic to demonstrate that he can strengthen a weak pipeline and add some significant revenue to the books. MedImmune, after all, hadn't performed to expectations. And Amylin's ($AMLN) Bydureon--for all the questions about its sales potential--could fit the bill.

AstraZeneca's next step, probably being choreographed for some months, was to partner up with Amgen ($AMGN) on 5 antibody programs, paying a modest $50 million upfront. And now AstraZeneca R&D chief Martin Mackay insists that AstraZeneca is scouting the market for small acquisitions and more deals like the $1.2 billion rheumatoid arthritis package--$100 million upfront--it tied up with Rigel a couple of years ago. He also harkened back 5 years to a deal the company completed with BMS.

"I like the deals we've got with Bristol, with Rigel and with Amgen, and we're looking to do more of these kinds of deals," Mackay told Reuters' Ben Hirschler, who penned a story that included references to the litany of development woes at AstraZeneca. "It can involve smaller acquisitions ... but the notion of a mega-deal is not part of our strategy." Later in the story he added that he would be "disappointed" if the pharma giant hadn't struck more deals by the end of the year. The same message, no doubt, has been underscored with more vigor to the company's business development team.

The deal structure he was referring to looks a lot like the kind of pact that AstraZeneca struck with Targacept ($TRGT) for their depression drug program--a $1.24 billion deal structure. But no one wants to talk about that since the two companies recently dumped the therapy after it failed four out of four late-stage studies, highlighting how little late-stage success AZ has had in recent years. Given the lengthy timelines on early- and mid-phase drugs, though, a string of similar deals won't stop the criticism that AstraZeneca has faced from analysts. While Mackay insists that a mega deal solution is not on the table, he also wouldn't respond to Hirschler's query about any possible interest in either buying Amylin or stepping in to replace Eli Lilly's ($LLY) position in a marketing pact.

That door might still be open.

- here's the story from Reuters

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Mar
29

Is an Amylin takeover inevitable after the BMS rejection?

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

Now that the world knows that Amylin ($AMLN) rejected Bristol-Myers' reported $3.5 billion buyout offer, all the speculation quickly shifted to suggestions on the most likely bidder to step in with a sweetened offer. Bloomberg, which broke the bid story yesterday, quickly zeroed in on AstraZeneca ($AZN), which has suffered through a bad streak in the clinic, has to defend a thin late-stage pipeline and offered repeated rounds of budget cuts to make up for its notable lack of success.

Sanford C. Bernstein analyst and careful observer Tim Anderson had already tapped AstraZeneca as a possible buyer, noting that Amylin's newly approved Bydureon would help it beef up its diabetes arm. A spokesperson for AstraZeneca underscored earlier statements that the company is on the hunt, but kept quiet about the specifics of what it's looking for. "We're active in looking at assets that are complementary with our disease area focus and our strategy, but of course we don't comment on specific rumors or speculation."

The word from Sanofi, Merck and Takeda, all possible bidders: No comment.

Investors quickly bid up Amylin's shares past BMS's $22-per-share offer yesterday, happy to bet on a better offer. And some analysts note that Amylin may have to take the best offer on the table now, as any ex-U.S. partnering deal to take the place of Eli Lilly on Bydureon would trigger a collapse in share price.

"We generally believe these stories are 'leaks' that serve a purpose. The purpose of (this) announcement, we believe, is to tie Amylin's hands and prevent them from doing an 'ex-US' deal instead of a sale," writes Leerink Swann analyst Josh Shimmer, as reported by Pharmalot.

Anderson agreed. So the next move may be up to Amylin. The choice: Partner and lose its status as a takeover target or hold on to the Bydureon rights and look for a better price.

- here's the Bloomberg report
- here's the story from Pharmalot

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Mar
28

UPDATED: Amylin shares rocket up on report of $3.5B buyout offer by Bristol-Myers

Posted under Amylin pharmaceuticals, Blog, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bydureon, Byetta, Companies, Diagnostics, Funding, Medical Devices, Medical Supply, Pharmaceuticals, Startups, Universities, Victoza, Videos by John Carroll

Shares of Amylin Pharmaceuticals ($AMLN) rocketed up 45% this morning, fueled by a report by Bloomberg that the Bydureon developer had turned a cold shoulder to a $22 per share buyout offer from Bristol-Myers Squibb ($BMY), putting the value on this new potential pearl at $3.5 billion.

Amylin has had an eventful schedule over the past year. First it sued its longtime partner Eli Lilly ($LLY) after Lilly forged a marketing pact with rival Boehringer, then it executed an expensive divorce from the pharma giant. Soon after, the FDA delivered on a long-awaited approval for Bydureon, the once-weekly successor to the Byetta franchise. Now Meg Tirrell and Jeffrey McCracken, quoting sources close to the deal, report that Amylin rejected Bristol-Myers offer to pay a 43% premium to buy the company--a deal that would register as the largest in a string of 19 BMS acquisitions over the past five years.

As Bloomberg notes, Amylin has been seeing its revenue from Byetta shrink as Novo's ($NVO) Victoza muscled into its market share. And it's been looking for a global partner who can step into Eli Lilly's shoes outside the U.S. But none of that persuaded Amylin to warm up to Bristol-Myers' offer. BMS hasn't been back in touch since it was rejected by Amylin.

Amylin struck a $1.6 billion deal to end its relationship with Lilly. That included a $250 million upfront and a $1.2 billion share of the Bydureon revenue. The FDA's approval came soon after the two companies split up.

News of the $3.5 billion bid quickly seized the attention of Wall Street analysts, who began to debate just what Amylin is worth. Its value has a lot to do with its prospects for Bydureon, of course, and as Adam Feuerstein at TheStreet notes, if the board is turning down a $22 offer, they must have a strong belief that they can go on to register blockbuster sales. But if Bristol can't prevail, adds Feuerstein, the likes of Takeda, GlaxosmithKline and AstraZeneca just might step in.

- here's the story from Bloomberg
- here's the report from TheStreet

Special Report: Bydureon - 15 top blockbuster contenders

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Archive for the ‘Bydureon’ Category

Bristol stays in hunt for Amylin

AstraZeneca scouts new drug deals to silence a chorus of critics

Is an Amylin takeover inevitable after the BMS rejection?

UPDATED: Amylin shares rocket up on report of $3.5B buyout offer by Bristol-Myers