RespireRx Pharmaceuticals Inc (fka RSPI)

[haysaw]

Drugmakers ease credit squeeze for biotech

Short but sweet:

http://us.ft.com/ftgateway/superpage.ft?news_id=fto091820082338561336&referrer_id=yahoofinance

By Andrew Jack
Thursday Sep 18 2008 22:30
The global credit crunch and the equity meltdown may have caused pain to companies in most sectors, but it has had unexpected benefits for cash-rich established drugmakers such asShire, the Ireland-based speciality pharmaceutical business.

"It has strengthened our negotiating position," says Angus Russell, chief executive, who has completed a string of deals in recent years, including a friendly takeover currently being completed of Jerini, a Berlin-based biotech company.

Jerini's relatively low stock market value made outright purchase cheaper and simpler than arranging complex licensing terms for its peptide-based medicines that Shire sought. In other cases, fewer options for funding have made biotech companies keener to do deals quickly with it, where they previously had held out for better pricing.