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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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

Related Articles:
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Icahn goes in for the kill at Amylin

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

Carl Icahn has found a new opening to push Amylin's board to sell the company. In an open letter, the feared raider lambasted the company ($AMLN) for handing out stock options at $16 a share when it was keeping quiet about Bristol-Myers Squibb's ($BMY) $22 a share bid. And he described the board as "dysfunctional." Icahn, of course, has specialized in buying into biotechs like Biogen Idec ($BIIB) and Genzyme at a time of weakness and then kicking down the doors in pursuit of a sale at a significant premium over what he paid for shares. He's also had a remarkable success rate. Amylin now gets to enjoy the full Icahn treatment, and all that that entails. Report

George Scangos – The 25 most influential people in biopharma today

Posted under autoimmune disease, BG-12, Biogen Idec, Blog, Carl Icahn, Companies, daclizumab, Diagnostics, Funding, George Scangos, Medical Devices, Medical Supply, Pharmaceuticals, Startups, Universities, Videos by Ryan McBride

Setting the pace on prioritization

George Scangos
CEO
Biogen Idec

George Scangos has shown that he belongs in the small fraternity of the very top chief executives in biotech, bringing what appears to be a golden touch to one of the industry's most important companies, Biogen Idec ($BIIB). Biogen, which had lagged biotech peers in R&D productivity and stock price before Scangos' arrival in June 2010, has been returning to grace under his leadership.

The Weston, MA-based company's stock took off last year, fueled by positive data on key experimental therapies such as the multiple sclerosis pill BG-12 and the long-acting MS treatment daclizumab. Those programs predate Scangos' arrival, but he has refocused the company's R&D organization on the areas it knows best such as neurological and autoimmune diseases.

He's been decisive--cutting oncology and cardiovascular disease research from the company's R&D mix and shuttering its San Diego research outpost just months after taking the reins. He made changes and appointments on his executive team, surrounding himself with standout veterans of the biotech game. And he made the call last year to return the company's headquarters to Cambridge, MA--all as part of his larger leadership theme of improving communication and integrating efforts.

Abandon oncology research? It's almost unheard of in biopharma nowadays, but Scangos has set the tone among his peers for prioritization--which has become essential as drugmakers narrow their focus on their most valuable programs to get the best returns possible on their R&D dollars.

Scangos also hasn't hesitated to shrug off some big trends in the business. Early on Scangos' new team decided to get out of the corporate VC side of the business, happy to go their own way and rely on a seasoned team to provide the kind of insights on new companies and technologies expected from the corporate VC teams roaming the planet. He hasn't been emulated, yet.

The hundreds of workers who lost their jobs as a result of Scangos' house-cleaning in the fall of 2010 might disagree, but Scangos has even been regarded as a friendly leader who is liked among the rank and file. (It probably doesn't hurt that employees' company stock has skyrocketed with Scangos in charge.) Yet there's no doubt that Scangos exudes confident calm, something that was seriously lacking during the infamous charades at the '09 annual shareholder meeting, when management and Carl Icahn's camp were battling for as many board seats as each could get.

Scangos' first annual board meeting was perfectly boring, another sign of contentment among investors. How content? Icahn cashed out his shares in Biogen last year. A Scangos-led Biogen had finally delivered the billionaire investor what he wanted, a big profit. With BG-12 advancing, we'll soon see whether Scangos can lead Biogen to a feat it hasn't accomplished since 2004--an FDA approval of a new drug.