Life sciences and healthcare
Daily news digest
11th October 2024
- Sanofi in talks to sell 50% of consumer health unit to CD&R – Bloomberg
- Activist accuses Pfizer of pressuring former Executives – The Wall Street Journal
- Biotech startups Upstream and CAMP4 price Friday IPOs – Endpoints
- Scores of companies take AIM at Reeves over tax threat – Sky News
- Immatics heads to phase 3 with melanoma cell therapy, seeks to raise $150m – Endpoints
- Teva Pharmaceuticals to pay $450m to settle kickback allegations – The Wall Street Journal
- Gritstone files for bankruptcy in hope of keeping cancer vaccine R&D afloat – FierceBiotech
| Jefferies Healthcare Temperature Check In partnership with Jefferies, we are pleased to invite you to participate in the annual Jefferies Healthcare Temperature Check. The Jefferies Healthcare Temperature Check will once again assess how senior healthcare executives and investors view the key issues affecting the sector, and provide valuable insight into how your peers view the next 12 months and beyond. This year will examine the impact of the state of the Healthcare market, the impact of ongoing inflation and the outlook for capital markets activity. A fully interactive report will be launched to coincide with the Jefferies 2024 Global Healthcare Conference in London, taking place 19-21 November. All responses will be anonymous and not attributed to individuals or their organisations. The survey should take approximately five minutes to complete. Please click here for the survey >> AIM Awards 2024 – Congratulations! Congratulations to AOTI who were awarded Best Newcomer at the AIM Awards last night. AOTI was recognised for its AIM IPO in June which raised £35.1m to further accelerate the Group’s commercial roll-out and help achieve its mission of helping all people with chronic conditions get back to living their lives to the fullest. Congratulations to all of our clients that made it as finalists, including Kooth for their significant achievements over the past year Ruth David, Pamela Barbaglia, Dinesh Nair and Ashleigh Furlong of Bloomberg report that Sanofi is in talks to sell a 50% controlling stake in its consumer health unit to Clayton Dubilier & Rice, in what is set to be one of the biggest deals this year. Financial terms were not disclosed, but people familiar with the matter said earlier that the deal would value the unit at about €15bn. The aim with the deal is to turn Sanofi, for the first time, into a pure play biopharma company, CEO Paul Hudson has said. Bloomberg >> Jared Hopkins and Lauren Thomas of The Wall Street Journal report that the fight between Starboard Value and Pfizer has taken an unusual, bitter turn. Starboard has called on Pfizer to conduct an investigation into the withdrawals of former CEO Ian Read and ex-CFO Frank D’Amelio, lobbing allegations that they were threatened with lawsuits, clawbacks of compensation and other measures unless they publicly supported Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla. The Wall Street Journal >> Kyle LaHucik of Endpoints reports that Boston-area biotechs Upstream Bio and CAMP4 Therapeutics are headed to the Nasdaq today, the latest companies to IPO in what appears to be a recovery for startups trying to raise capital on the public market. Upstream Bio priced at $17 per share, the high end of the $15 to $17 range it set earlier this week. By selling 15mmillion shares, it will raise $255m in new cash. CAMP4, meanwhile, priced its shares $CAMP at $11 apiece, $3 below the low end of the $14 to $16 range it marketed to investors. It sold 6.82m shares and will raise $75m. Endpoints >> Mark Kleinman of Sky News reports that more than 140 London-listed companies have warned the chancellor that uncertainty over the continuation of a vital tax incentive is damaging investor confidence ahead of this month’s Budget. AIM-quoted businesses generating combined profits of £1.5bn and employing more than 120,000 people have written to Rachel Reeves to urge the government to provide “clear support” for business relief in order to restore investors’ faith in the City’s junior exchange. Sky News >> Lei Lei Wu of Endpoints reports that Immatics said its PRAME-targeted T cell therapy shrank tumors by at least 30% in just over half of melanoma patients in an early-stage trial, and the company plans to start a pivotal study by the end of this year. The median progression-free survival was six months, while the median overall survival was not reached. Immatics also announced that it is seeking $150m via a stock sale. The company’s shares fell down 11%. Endpoints >> Connor Hart of The Wall Street Journal reports that Teva Pharmaceuticals will pay $450m to resolve allegations that the generic drug manufacturer submitted false claims and violated a federal law that prohibits the payment of kickbacks to generate federal healthcare business or induce patient referrals. The US Justice Department said the settlement amount was based on the company’s ability to pay. As part of the settlement, there was no admission of wrongdoing on Teva’s part. The Wall Street Journal >> James Waldron of FierceBiotech reports that Gritstone bio may have left no stone unturned when it came to searching for a financial rescue, but the vaccine biotech has decided that all roads now lead to bankruptcy. The cash-strapped company brought in bankers last week to explore “potential value-maximizing strategies” after its phase 2 colorectal cancer vaccine data fell short of the success needed to reverse its fortunes. With money already expected to run out by year-end, Gritstone has announced this morning that it has filed a voluntary petition for bankruptcy. FierceBiotech >> |
Upcoming events
- Annual World Orphan Drug Congress Europe, Barcelona (23-25 October)
- Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC), Houston (6-10 November)
- UBS Healthcare Conference, California (11-14 November)
