GSK’s bid to dominate longer-life HIV drugs 5 Jul 2022 Deborah Waterhouse and Dr Kimberly Smith have spent decades battling the deadly virus. In this edition of The Exchange podcast, the leaders of the British drug giant discuss breakthroughs in the $26 bln market and how Gilead is also making a play for the growing sector.
CEO’s exit puts $30 bln cancer specialist in play 21 Jun 2022 Founder Clay Siegall quit U.S. oncology biotech Seagen after a domestic-abuse charge. Merck has already spied an opening into a hot area of cancer treatment. Rivals Roche, Pfizer and Novartis may also want to get involved. But Seagen’s size will create regulatory problems.
Next pandemic is a financial numbers game 10 Jun 2022 Outbreaks are hard to predict – look at the spread of Monkeypox – but they can be prepared for. The $88 bln the White House wants to spend on pandemic readiness is a pittance next to the cost of being blindsided. Even for budget hawks, the case for spending more is powerful.
GSK castoff starts life with target on its back 9 Jun 2022 GlaxoSmithKline is floating its personal health unit, worth perhaps $53 bln. After listing, it will have two large shareholders keen to sell and lots of debt, while facing a tough consumer backdrop. A suitor would be harder to fend off than the recent botched bid by Unilever.
Super chemo will be Big Pharma’s next tussle 16 May 2022 AstraZeneca and Sanofi are among peers developing drugs that attack tumours more efficiently than traditional chemotherapy. The treatments, dubbed ADCs, may fight diseases from breast to blood cancer and make $60 bln of annual sales. Laggards, like Novartis, may need to catch up.
Capital Calls: Ford’s private equity playbook 2 Mar 2022 Concise views on global finance: The Detroit automaker’s reorganization plan makes explicit the goal of squeezing its traditional car business for cash to fund its electric future.
Vaccine tortoises will win marathon, not sprint 15 Feb 2022 GSK, Sanofi and France’s Valneva are launching new Covid-19 jabs just as infections wane. Pfizer and Moderna’s shots also have a huge head start. But as the need for speed recedes, governments will favour cheaper, longer-lasting vaccines born of more familiar science.
CVS tests positive for Covid-related profit 9 Feb 2022 The U.S. health retailer made around $4 bln in extra revenue from providing vaccines and tests in 2021, earning about 10 times its usual profit margin. Most of the gain will pay for a higher dividend. That’s the cost of getting the private sector to deliver a public good.
Swiss generics buyout requires flawless treatment 3 Feb 2022 Blackstone and Carlyle are eyeing Novartis’ Sandoz unit, worth perhaps $25 bln. The reported valuation looks punchy given the misfiring off-patent pill producer’s limited scope to grow. The slightest hiccup could leave private equity buyers swallowing a meagre return.
Capital Calls: Siemens Gamesa, Psych SPAC 21 Jan 2022 Concise views on global finance: The 11 billion euro wind turbine manufacturer serves up its third profit warning in nine months; Hope for drugs to treat depression is tempered after rivals suffer mishaps.
Viewsroom: Credit Suisse chair, Unilever’s GSK bid 20 Jan 2022 As António Horta-Osório quits the Swiss lender after less than a year, Liam Proud explains what happened and offers career advice. And Unilever’s 50 bln pound offer for the pharma giant’s consumer unit puts both CEOs on the spot, say Aimee Donnellan and Dasha Afanasieva.
GSK’s consumer promise will be hard to live up to 19 Jan 2022 The drugmaker’s CEO Emma Walmsley rebuffed Unilever’s 50 bln pound bid for its personal health unit. Yet her plan to spin the division off would need rosy sales growth and a premium valuation to trump the Marmite maker’s offer. It’s a risk some investors may be prepared to take.
Unilever’s health kick is risky prescription 17 Jan 2022 CEO Alan Jope wants to expand in healthcare, beauty and hygiene while selling slower-growing food brands. But raising his 50 bln pound bid for GSK’s toothpaste unit will dent returns, while other big targets are scarce. Already grouchy investors have more reasons to grumble.
Capital Calls: UK bid gets hedge funds off hook 17 Jan 2022 Concise views on global finance: Private equity group Triton sweetens its offer for pharma group Clinigen to 1.3 bln pounds, raising the chances of hedge funds accepting the deal.
Unilever piles pressure on GSK spinoff plan 17 Jan 2022 GlaxoSmithKline rebuffed the sauce-to-soap group’s 50 bln pound bid for its consumer unit. Unilever’s plan faces challenges. But a listing is unlikely to earn a higher valuation for the Advil maker. To placate investors, GSK boss Emma Walmsley needs other buyers like J&J and P&G.
Capital Calls: Biogen hits Medicare wall 12 Jan 2022 Concise views on global finance: An unusual decision by the U.S. government program to restrict payment for the firm’s Alzheimer’s drug is likely to be an exception rather than becoming the rule.
Viewsroom: A $3 trln Apple, Theranos boss busted 6 Jan 2022 The company led by Tim Cook hit another mega-milestone thanks to a lightning focus on the iPhone universe and investor willingness to accord it a market-beating multiple, Richard Beales explains. And Elizabeth Holmes draws bright lines between hype and fraud, Gina Chon says.
Moderna’s boosted valuation has Tesla-like spin 5 Jan 2022 Its Covid-19 vaccine is one of the world’s biggest medical products, yet that doesn't justify even half of Moderna’s $94 bln market value. Like Elon Musk’s $1.2 trln carmaker, the company is now a bet on dominating markets yet to exist. That suggests a volatile future for investors.
Viewsroom: More 2022 predictions and prescriptions 30 Dec 2021 M&A bankers will need to think small, in size, but big when it comes to helping clients meet net-zero climate targets. Watch for Big Pharma to tool up in the data arms race. And the Great Resignation will hit executive suites because running companies remotely is no fun.
Data hunters will be Big Pharma’s next prey 20 Dec 2021 Drugmakers such as AstraZeneca spend $160 bln annually trying to unearth new treatments for diseases like cancer. The winners will be those who can source and analyse data quickly. That makes artificial intelligence experts like Relay Therapeutics and Exscientia targets.