Highlighted in January on Media Deal Watch: “one key question for 2018 is whether the recent US tax changes will have an effect on M&A (merger & acquisition) in healthcare and pharma industries”, time will tell.
Three companies have been particularly active in deal making this month: Sanofi, Celgene and Takeda.
Biogen’s spin out, Bioverativ, had not even got past its first anniversary as a Nasdaq listed company before being snapped up by Sanofi for $11.6bn. Paying $105 per share in cash, Sanofi gains the marketed products, Eloctate (haemophilia A therapy) and Alprolix (haemophilia B therapy), as well as a pipeline of candidates focused on rare blood disorders.
Celgene also had a bumper spending spree this month by first acquiring Impact Biomedicines for a potential $7bn in early January and then it scooped up the remaining 90% of its CAR-T and TCR technology partner Juno Therapeutics for $9bn.
Meanwhile Takeda, had a busy first week of the New Year entering into an
option and collaboration agreement with Denali Therapeutics paying $155m on agreement closure.
A few days later Takeda announced it was paying $628m to buy Belgian company TiGenix NV and its lead asset Cx601 (darvadstrocel), an allogeneic stem cell therapy for local administration for the treatment of complex perianal fistulas in patients with Crohn’s disease.