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Celgene’s Busy Week

by | Apr 4, 2015 4:38 pm | Pharmaceuticals

It wasn’t until the final week in April that Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ: CELG) took the title of top deal maker for the month. The single acquisition on the books as of April 24 was its collaboration with MedImmune (NYSE: AZN) on its anti-PD-L1 inhibitor MEDI4736, with $450 million in cash upfront. On April 27, CELG announced it would pay another $110 million for Quantical Pharmaceuticals, followed two days later by two smaller licensing deals with Northern Biologics ($30 million) and Agios Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: AGIO) for $10 million. Then on April 30, it reported very rosy results for the first quarter, with total revenue up 20%, to $2.08 billion, and much, much more. Read More »

Teva Acquires Auspex for its Molecules

by | Apr 4, 2015 3:27 pm | Pharmaceuticals

Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries (NYSE: TEVA) boasts that it has a portfolio of more than 1,000 molecules, which it uses to produce a wide range of generic products. Last week, the company decided it needed a few more molecules, so it agreed to pay $3.2 billion ($101 per share in cash) for Auspex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ASPX), which has 61 molecules aimed at various diseases of the central nervous system. Of course, there was a special molecule that attracted Teva: SD-809, which reported positive results from its Phase 3 clinical trial last year, as a treatment for Huntington’s disease. Read More »

Another Record Falls in Q1:15

by | Apr 4, 2015 3:19 pm | Behavioral Health Care, Biotechnology, Home Health & Hospice, Hospitals, Laboratories, MRI & Dialysis, Long-Term Care, Managed Care, Medical Devices, Other Services, Pharmaceuticals, Physician Medical Groups, Rehabilitation

Now that the month is officially over, we can report our preliminary Q1:15 results—and it was another record breaker, at least for transactions. The 346 deals logged so far are 109% higher than the first quarter of 2014. You would think that the $104.7 billion in combined spending would set another record, but no. In Q1:09, we tracked $127.2 billion spent on 202 deals. That’s when Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) bought Wyeth for $68 billion.  Here’s the preliminary breakdown of Q1:15 — and remember, the spending is only for deals that disclosed prices. Read More »

Catamaran Sails into OptumRx’s Harbor

by | Apr 4, 2015 3:15 pm | Pharmaceuticals

As the free-standing pharmacy care business of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH), OptumRx has serious backing when the right target comes along. Last week, the right one came along in the form of Catamaran Corporation (NASDAQ: CTRX), the nation’s fourth-largest provider of pharmacy benefit management services and healthcare information technology solutions. The offer was $61.50 per share, or approximately $12.8 billion. The deal leaves No. 1 pharmacy benefits provider Express Scripts Holdings (NASDAQ: ESRX) as the last holdout in the field, and some analysts are cheering for a major pharmacy retail chain to make an offer. Don’t look at Rite Aid (NYSE: RAD), though. It just paid $2 billion for... Read More »

Ambry Genetics Completes Itself with Progeny

by | Apr 4, 2015 3:08 pm | Laboratories, MRI & Dialysis

Privately held Ambry Genetics, a clinical genetic diagnostics laboratory, wasn’t joking around when it acquired Progeny Software, LLC on April 1. Progeny Software has spent the last 15 years enhancing its software to manage all types of genetic data, from pedigrees, providing genotype management and analysis, or providing a full laboratory information management system (LIMS). The combination, for an undisclosed price, gives Ambry the ammo to call itself a complete genetics services company “on the forefront of personalized medicine.” Don’t say we didn’t warn you. Read More »

Welsh, Carson’s Busy, Billion $$ Week

by | Mar 30, 2015 2:40 pm | Other Services, Private Equity

In case you hadn’t heard, the Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe private equity firm was featured in several deal announcements last week. The largest deal, at $1.06 billion, was for Concentra Inc., a subsidiary of Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM), which operates urgent care, occupational medicine, physical therapy and other programs. For the transaction, Welsh, Carson formed a joint venture with Select Medical Corporation (NYSE: SEM), which operates specialty hospitals and outpatient rehab clinics. Then there was the sale of a majority stake in its portfolio company, United Surgical Partners Inc. Tenet Healthcare Corporation (NYSE: THC) paid $425 million for a 50.1% interest, and will acquire the... Read More »

March Healthcare M&A Madness

by | Mar 30, 2015 2:37 pm | Biotechnology, Pharmaceuticals

March isn’t quite over as we write this, and neither is the madness—which won’t stop us from posting the biggest deals of the month. As of Friday, March 27, $34.4 billion has been committed to finance about 105 transactions. Of course, $21 billion of that comes from the AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV) acquisition of Pharmacyclics (NASDAQ: PCYC). Next week, preliminary Q1:15 results! Read More »

Fred’s Inc. Buys EntrustRx

by | Mar 30, 2015 2:29 pm | Pharmaceuticals

Specialty pharmaceutical companies are still in strong demand, and so are specialty pharmacies. Three deals in the first quarter of 2015 have been announced, the most recent being last week’s $66 million acquisition of Reeves-Sain Drug Store, Inc., a private specialty and retail pharmacy company, by Fred’s Inc. (NASDAQ: FRED). Fred’s sells general merchandise through 661 retail discount stores and full-service pharmacies in the southeastern United States. This transaction nets it a single Reeves-Sain retail pharmacy in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and Columbus, Mississippi. Read More »