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Another PBM Changes Hands

by | Mar 23, 2015 8:41 pm | Pharmaceuticals

Early this month we wrote about the pick-up in M&A activity around pharmacy benefits management (PBM) companies, particularly as private equity firms made exits. Last week, another PBM made M&A news, as Magellan Health (NASDAQ: MGLN) paid $55 million to acquire 4D Pharmacy Management Systems in Troy, Michigan. 4D Pharmacy has strong presence in the growing markets of Medicare, dual eligible and healthcare exchanges. Plus, Magellan expects 4D to produce approximately $400 million in revenue in 2015, pre- and post-acquisition. Read More »

Janssen Scoops Up XO1

by | Mar 23, 2015 8:31 pm | Biotechnology, Pharmaceuticals

No, XO1 is not a drug candidate, it’s the name of an asset-centric virtual biopharmaceutical company, XO1 Limited, a UK-based portfolio company of Index Ventures. Janssen Pharmaceuticals (NYSE: JNJ) paid an undisclosed price for the virtual company, which was founded solely to develop the anti-thrombin antibody ichorcumab, which basically acts as an anticoagulant but doesn’t cause bleeding, like previous blood thinners. XO1 and Index Ventures licensed the technology from Cambridge University Hospitals, where it was developed. Read More »

UPMC Acquires Local Hospice Provider

by | Mar 23, 2015 2:08 pm | Home Health & Hospice

The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) has been busy this year, with two acquisitions and a “significant investment,” after 18 months off the M&A circuit. This month’s acquisition was Family Hospice and Palliative Care, also in Pittsburgh. The company is the state’s largest not-for-profit medical services provider for people with terminal illness. UPMC also made an undisclosed investment in Health Fidelity, a Palo Alto-based technology company with a “risk adjustment solution” that was deployed by UPMC Health Plan last year. UPMC’s previous acquisition was Jameson Health System in New Castle, Pennsylvania, announced in February. Read More »

Endo Tries to Upstage Valeant’s Bid for Salix

by | Mar 16, 2015 8:21 pm | Pharmaceuticals

It’s not over until the fat check arrives. That’s the story of Salix Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: SLXP), which last month accepted Valeant Pharmaceuticals’ (NYSE: VRX) $10.1 billion acquisition offer. Valeant thought it had snatched victory from Shire plc (NASDAQ: SHPG) and Endo International plc (NASDAQ: ENDP), which were also readying bids for the troubled Salix. Endo apparently wasn’t daunted, and last week came back with a cash and stock bid of approximately $11.1 billion. Stay tuned. Read More »

Year’s Biggest Billion-Dollar Deals Top $64 Billion

by | Mar 16, 2015 8:16 pm | Biotechnology, Pharmaceuticals

Already in 2015, we’ve recorded 11 billion-dollar-plus deals, for a total of $64.4 billion. Thanks to the $21 billion AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV) bid for Pharmacyclics (NASDAQ: PCYC), the biotechnology sector accounted for $27.5 billion of those big deals. Pharmaceuticals, with four billion-plus transactions, still ranks first, with combined spending of $30.45 billion.  Read More »

Doc Group Acquisitions Pick Up

by | Mar 16, 2015 7:56 pm | Hospitals

After a few quiet weeks with no announcements, the Physician Medical Group sector got busy. Sheridan Healthcare, a subsidiary of AmSurg Corp. (NASDAQ: AMSG), acquired Radiology Associates of Hollywood (Florida), which handles radiology services for 12 hospitals and other facilities in Broward County. US Anesthesia Partners picked up another Texas-based practice, Excel Anesthesia, P.A., which it will merge into Pinnacle Anesthesia Consultants, one of its founding partners. Then Partners HealthCare System, which was spurned by the Massachusetts Attorney General in its bid for South Shore Hospital, turned around and angered the AG once again by acquiring Harbor Medical Associates in South... Read More »

NKKR Buys a Texas Air Ambulance Company

by | Mar 16, 2015 7:45 pm | Other Services

Air ambulance companies are not on most investors’ radar, yet at least one acquisition of this ancillary healthcare service pops up about once a year. This year’s deal came early, as KKR & Co. LP (NYSE: KKR) paid an undisclosed amount for Air Medical, an air ambulance company based in Lewisville, Texas. It was owned by affiliates of private equity firms Bain Capital and Brockway Moran & Partners. Last year’s air ambulance deal was announced in August, when privately held REACH Air Medical Services of Santa Rosa, California acquired Emergency Airlift Service in North Bend, Oregon. No prices were disclosed, of course. In fact, the last price we recorded for an air ambulance company... Read More »