Biotech Values

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Sanofi Nears Deal to Buy Hemophilia Drugmaker Bioverativ for More Than $11.5 Billion
https://www.wsj.com/articles/sanofi-nears-deal-to-buy-hemophilia-drugmaker-bioverativ-for-more-than-11-5-billion-1516584141

—Deal would value hemophilia drugmaker at $105 a share, a 63% premium to its closing price Friday

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 €3.5 billion ($4.3 billion) of Sanofi’s €26.4 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.