Sanofi Nears Deal to Buy Hemophilia Drugmaker Bioverativ for More Than $11.5 Billion -- Update
22 January 2018 - 01:07PM
Dow Jones News
By Dana Mattioli and Jonathan D. Rockoff
Sanofi SA is nearing a deal to buy hemophilia drugmaker
Bioverativ Inc. for more than $11.5 billion as the French drugmaker
looks set to clinch a big deal while it braces for generic
competition for its top-selling product.
A deal, which could be announced as soon as Monday, would value
the former Biogen Inc. unit at $105 a share, according to people
familiar with the matter. The price would represent a 63% premium
to where Bioverativ closed trading Friday. It is possible the talks
could fall apart before a deal is reached.
Sanofi has been looking to add to its portfolio as generic-drug
companies prepare to launch lower-priced versions of Lantus
insulin, its best-seller. Lantus accounted for EUR3.5 billion ($4.3
billion) of Sanofi's EUR26.4 billion in sales during the first nine
months of last year.
But Sanofi has missed out on a number of deals. In 2016, the
company kicked off a bidding war for U.S. biotechnology firm
Medivation Inc. Sanofi's offer for the company caused other bidders
to pile in, and Medivation signed a deal to sell itself to Pfizer
Inc. for $14 billion. Sanofi also lost out to Johnson & Johnson
last year in its pursuit of Swiss biotech Actelion Pharmaceuticals
Ltd.
By adding Waltham, Mass.-based Bioverativ, Sanofi would bolster
its thriving rare-disease business and gain access to the market
for treatments for hemophilia. Therapies for the rare bleeding
disorder ring up more than $10 billion a year in sales
world-wide.
The market is getting more competitive, however, with longtime
players like Shire PLC, Novo Nordisk A/S and Pfizer facing new
rivalry from heavyweight Roche Holding AG.
Sanofi has been a leading player treating rare diseases since
paying more than $20 billion for Genzyme in 2011. Rare-disease
drugs are a growing part of the Paris company's lineup, with EUR2.2
billion in sales during the first nine months of 2017, up more than
5% from the same period a year earlier.
Bioverativ consists of the hemophilia drugs from Biogen, one of
the biggest biotech concerns, which spun off the business last
year. On its first day of trading roughly a year ago, the shares
closed at less than $46.
Bioverativ's two big products, Eloctate and Alprolix, are among
the leading treatments for two of the most prevalent types of
hemophilia, known as A and B. Bioverativ reported $291.6 million in
revenue from the two drugs during the third quarter of 2017.
One issue for Sanofi: it wouldn't sell the pair of drugs in its
home market. Bioverativ owns the rights to Eloctate and Alprolix in
North America and other countries around the world, but Swedish
Orphan Biovitrum AB has the rights in Europe, Russia and many
countries in the Middle East and North Africa.
The lofty premium would represent a win for Bioverativ
shareholders, including activist hedge-fund manager Alex Denner of
Sarissa Capital Management LP, who sits on the boards of Bioverativ
and Biogen. A deal for Bioverativ would come a year after Ariad
Pharmaceuticals agreed to sell itself to Takeda Pharmaceutical Ltd.
for $4.7 billion, or a roughly 75% premium to where Ariad was
trading before the deal. Mr. Denner was Ariad's chairman at the
time.
Write to Dana Mattioli at dana.mattioli@wsj.com and Jonathan D.
Rockoff at Jonathan.Rockoff@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 21, 2018 20:52 ET (01:52 GMT)
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