Precious Metals

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BioMarin - >>> These 5 companies could disappear in 2018’s wave of M&A



By Jeff Reeves

Published: Dec 6, 2017



https://www.marketwatch.com/story/these-5-companies-could-disappear-in-2018s-wave-of-ma-2017-12-06


BioMarin

Acquisitions of smaller biotech stocks are fairly common, but incredibly difficult to predict. Still, I’ll try my hand at it with BioMarin Pharmaceutical BMRN, +0.07% as my pick for the likeliest target to see a buyout in the new year.

The reason is that BioMarin is hyperfocused on rare-disease drugs. This includes treatments for Batten disease, a fatal neurological condition in children, and phenylketonuria or PKU. There are literally no other options for many patients suffering from these conditions, which means BioMarin serves an important market and is largely free from competitive forces.

While revenue growth is pretty impressive, running at a 17% clip this year and another 14% or so predicted in 2018, BioMarin is still unprofitable. As a result, the stock has remained largely rangebound between $80 and $100 since the beginning of 2016.

However, a strong product pipeline and an existing portfolio of proven drugs makes it worthy of consideration as a buyout candidate. At $14 billion, it is hardly the cheapest biotech out there, but Big Pharma execs know they will get something substantive in this firm.

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