Trulieve Cannabis Boosts Its Market Reach
Trulieve Cannabis Corp. (OTC: TCNNF), a vertically integrated “seed-to-sale” company and the first licensed medical cannabis company in the state of Florida, announced two new transactions last week. M&A activity in the medical marijuana market has been quiet throughout 2020 and 2019, after experiencing somewhat of a boom in 2018, but Trulieve Cannabis’ new deals might signal another resurgence. The company purchased Pennsylvania-based PurePenn LLC, which produces pharmaceutical-grade medical marijuana products, including concentrates, flower, oil, capsules and tinctures, and Keystone Relief Centers LLC (dba Solevo Wellness), which owns and operates three medical... Read More »
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 »