As the industry's biggest players wrestle for the upper hand in the competitive drug development world, companies are snapping up small biotechs to fill their pipelines. Check out the top five biggest buyouts of the first half of 2007.Â
1. AstraZeneca buys MedImmune for $15.6B [1]
Finally bowing to the demands of investors, in April Maryland-based vaccine giant MedImmune put itself on the auction block. Just two weeks later, AstraZeneca swooped in and paid a hefty for $15.6 billion in cash for the company [2]. At $58 a share, AstraZeneca paid a 21 percent premium to shareholders--53 percent over what MedImmune was trading for when the $9 billion company announced that it was for sale. With the purchase of MedImmune, AstraZeneca--which has been struggling to fill its pipeline after several late-stage failures--gained FluMist [3]Â and Synagis [4]Â along with 45 pipeline programs.
2. Schering-Plough pays $14.4B for Organon [5].Back in August of 2006, Dutch chemical group Akzo Nobel announced would ask shareholders to approve a plan to split the company into two. Akzo Nobel was to focus on coatings and chemicals and Organon BioSciences would work on developing the pharmaceutical product pipeline, with plans to go public early this year. But Akzo Nobel abandoned plans to take Organon public and snatched up a 37 percent premium for the operation in a deal to sell the company to Schering-Plough for $14.4 billion [6].The deal gave Schering-Plough the world's third-largest maker of birth control pills and an overnight boost of 50 percent to its revenue line. The company also gained experimental drugs for women's health and the central nervous system. The buyout was one of a string of new drug purchases by Schering-Plough CEO Fred Hassan, who has earned kudos as he engineers a company restructuring.
3. Mylan inks $6.6B deal for Merck KgAA generic drug biz [7]
After a long bidding war, Mylan finally beat out Ranbaxy, Cipla, Teva, Actavis and others for the rights to buy Merck KgAA’s generic drug business for $6.6 billion dollars. Merck decided to sell the unit in part to help finance its $13.3 acquisition of Serono [8]. In addition, the company will be beefing up its pipeline with the acquisition of late-stage drugs and in increased focus on vaccines.
For its part, Mylan is aiming to become a worldwide leader in the generics market. Last year the drugmaker acquired Matrix Laboratories, giving it access to markets in India, China and Africa as well as a distribution network in Europe. According to Robert J. Coury, Mylan's CEO, the purchase of Merck KgAA’s generic unit was a perfect compliment to the Matrix acquisition.Â
4. Shire snares New River Pharma in $2.6B buyout [9]
In February, Shire agreed to pay $2.6 billion for New River Pharmaceuticals [10]. The deal gave Shire the ADHD drug Vyvanse, which received FDA approval just one week after the buyout. For Shire, the buyout provides a new product to take the place of Adderall, its blockbuster ADD drug which will lose patent protection in 2009. Shire and New River struck a collaboration pact on Vyvanse two years ago.
5. Digene agrees to $1.6B takeover by Qiagen [11]
Gaithersburg, MD-based Digene was purchased by Netherlands-based Qiagen for $1.6 billion in a marriage of diagnostics outfits. Prior to the takeover, the two companies had an aggreement for Qiagen to manufacture Digene's Rapid Capture System, which labs need for three of Digene's diagnostic tests. The agreement led to merger talks between the two companies. Analysts say the acquisition will give Qiagen a leg up in the expanding market for HPV testing.
Links:
[1] http://lists.fiercemarkets.com/c.html?rtr=on&s=69l,rrzk,8ku,9req,h27f,7lus,fu0z
[2] http://www.fiercebiotech.com/story/astrazeneca-snares-medimmune-in-15.6b-buyout/2007-04-23
[3] http://www.fiercebiotech.com/story/spotlight-medimmune-touts-new-flumist-version/2005-06-16
[4] http://www.fiercebiotech.com/story/medimmune-drops-synagis-partner-plans-to-hire-125/2005-08-31
[5] http://lists.fiercemarkets.com/c.html?rtr=on&s=69l,qusi,8ku,8sll,m7e3,7lus,fu0z
[6] http://www.fiercebiotech.com/story/schering-plough-pays-14.4b-for-organon/2007-03-12
[7] http://lists.fiercemarkets.com/c.html?rtr=on&s=69l,s70o,8ku,d8n0,6szy,7lus,fu0z
[8] http://www.fiercebiotech.com/story/merck-kgaa-buying-control-of-serono/2006-09-21
[9] http://lists.fiercemarkets.com/c.html?rtr=on&s=69l,qdz9,8ku,gfx5,8ngw,7lus,fu0z
[10] http://www.fiercebiotech.com/story/shire-snares-new-river-pharma-in-2.6b-buyout/2007-02-20
[11] http://lists.fiercemarkets.com/c.html?rtr=on&s=69l,slbk,8ku,l7z,eld2,7lus,fu0z