JNJ Announces Multibillion-Dollar Takeover of Momenta
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) made a splash in the healthcare M&A market last week with its acquisition of Momenta Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: MNTA). The global pharmaceutical giant announced on August 19 it is paying $6.5 billion in cash, or $52.50 per share, for Momenta, a 70.4% premium over Momenta’s August 18 closing price. Momenta reported a trailing 12-month revenue of $30.07 million. On the day of the announcement, Momenta’s share price jumped 69%. This acquisition provides an opportunity for the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of JNJ to broaden its market reach in immune-mediated diseases and drive further growth through expansion into autoantibody-driven... Read More »
Sanofi Pasteur Jumps Into the COVID-19 Vaccine Race
Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccine division of Sanofi (NYSE: SNY) has expanded its partnership with Translate Bio (NASDAQ: TBIO ) to produce a COVID-19 vaccine. The two companies are pursuing novel mRNA vaccines aimed at broadly addressing current and future infectious diseases, evaluating multiple COVID-19 vaccine candidates. They hope to conduct human clinical trials in Q4:2020 but are also advancing an mRNA vaccine development candidate against influenza through preclinical studies with clinical trial initiation anticipated in mid-year 2021. The original agreement dates back to 2018, when Translate Bio and Sanofi Pasteur entered into a collaboration and exclusive license agreement to develop... Read More »
Takeda Makes Another Divestment
In another sale to lighten its portfolio, Takeda Pharmaceuticals (OTCMKTS: TKPHF) has announced the divestiture of 18 prescription and over-the-counter brands. Celltrion (KRX:068270), a South Korean-based biotechnology company, purchased the assets for $278.3 million. The assets are distributed in a number of markets in the Asian-Pacific region, including South Korea, Thailand, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, and Australia. The assets from Takeda in the deal grossed a combined sale of approximately $140 million in 2018. The portfolio includes Nesina and Actos (both for diabetes), Edarbi (hypertension), and well-known OTC products. Nesina and Edarbi are... Read More »
COVID-19 Vaccine Rush Pushes Biotech Deals
For the past few weeks, we’ve discussed the widening effects of the current pandemic on healthcare M&A, particularly on the services sectors, but until this week, dealmaking hasn’t been directly focused on COVID-19. As the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries race to find a COVID-19 vaccine, companies are bolstering their efforts with new collaborations and acquisitions. They’re the first transactions of their kind, and we expect to see more in the coming months. This week, Novavax, Inc. (NASDAQ: NVAX), a clinical-stage company focused on developing recombinant protein nanoparticle vaccines, spent $167 million cash to acquire Praha Vaccines from Cyrus... Read More »
Pfizer Teams up on Lyme Disease Vaccine
Even as it scrambles to join the hunt for a COVID-19 vaccine, Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) is still open to other ventures. On April 30 the Big Pharma signed a collaboration agreement with French specialty vaccine maker Valneva SE to develop and commercialize Valvena’s Lyme disease drug candidate VLA15, which is currently in Phase 2 clinical studies. VLA15 is the only active Lyme disease vaccine program in clinical development today and covers six serotypes that are prevalent in North America and Europe. It demonstrated strong immunogenicity and safety data in pre-clinical and Phase 1 studies. The program was granted Fast Track designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in July... Read More »