Replies to post #149487 on Avid Bioservices Inc (CDMO)

[nosaj89]

i think PPHM will rise on the back of news from other companies as they issue news of their own.

[biopharm]

Google to 23andme to Calico + Peregrine ... is Peregrine that bridge that assists both sides ?

Sept 5, 2013

Health issues are an area of personal interest for Google co-founders Page and Sergey Brin. In May, Page announced that he had a rare nerve disease that limited the movement of his vocal cords and briefly sidelined him from public speaking. He also said he had been diagnosed with Hashimoto's thyroiditis, a thyroid inflammatory condition he said gives him no trouble.

Brin has said that he has a higher-than-average chance of being diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, which his mother had. He believes he can lower his chances of getting Parkinson's from 50 percent to 13 percent through a strict regimen of diet and physical exercise.

Brin learned of his increased chance of Parkinson's through tests he took with 23andMe, a biotech firm founded by his wife, in which Google has invested.

Google previously tried to get involved in the healthcare business with limited success. Google Health, which provided consumers with a way to store their medical records online, was shuttered in 2011 after three years. Page said at the time that the service had failed to catch on with the general public.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/18/us-google-calico-idUSBRE98H0R720130918

Google obviously has the money to take the risk to venture deep into the Healthcare industry and now, 23andme is running into FDA trouble. Its clearly noted that the FDA didn't take much notice back in 2007 but starting in 2010 maybe they (lobbyists) were put in play to make sure Google advance too much in this field.

FDA halts sales of 23andMe DNA test kits

Nov 25, 2013

23andMe's saliva-based test kit, launched more than 5 years ago, claims to tell customers if they are at risk for more than 250 diseases and health conditions. The FDA says only medical tests that have been cleared by the government are permitted to make such claims.

For years, 23andMe resisted government regulation, arguing that it simply provides consumers with information, not a medical service. But last year the company changed course, submitting several of the disease-specific tests included in its test kit.

Company executives previously said that they first contacted the FDA in 2007, before launching their product. The agency did not take an interest in the technology until 2010, when it issued letters to several testing companies, warning that their products must be approved as safe and effective.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/11/25/23andme/3699329/

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So Google must shake it off and continue its course so they then start Calico and many of the Sr. Execs at Google have that desire to attempt that which is almost impossible- attempt the Health Venture path and now, they hire the best out of Genentech and maybe... just maybe -- make some deal with Peregrine?

K&L Gates in play with Peregrine
Dr. Robert Garnick - ex-Genentech
Googles "Calico" with all the ex-Genentech players

I say this: If Peregrine came out and stated they are now being backed by the likes of "Calico" with $2 Billion in cash payable in quarterly payments of $250M each for a 40% stake in Peregrine would close this deal down and fast.

I know its much more complicated with all the details and what Peregrine ultimately needs is a Big Pharma built-in "infrastructure" ? right..? Well $2 Billion is a start to initiate the "buy that BP infrastructure in pieces" pretty quickly with all the collaboration deals going on right now.

It doesn't matter what someone pays for the first half of Peregrine... its the 2nd half that matters for the buyout (see Genentech) but Peregrine shouldn't worry too much about that now and neither would Calico.

This would place PPHM above $5+ overnight and not look back. Peregrine can then sell 10Million shares at $20 for the vaults to never touch and always hold $200Million in cash on hand.

Peregrine would never be under a sub $5 stock again and Institutions would be buying in big time.

Get this train moving

[biopharm]

Looking for Signs for any Possible Partnering talks.... in focus here "Bayer" and "Merck KgaA" -and will say this: Merck KgaA will certainly be in play if they can pay! I will add these into the full landscape of Big Pharma articles later...

We see Merck KgaA mention on Nov 14 about acquisition ... and again now today... and they stressed it twice in the same press report! they are anxious.... and you will see more of this anxiety in the months to come from other Big Pharmas I believe.

Merck KgaA (German)

Nov 26, 2013

German healthcare group Merck KGaA is looking for acquisitions and collaborations with start-ups to grow its drugs business in the United States, a senior Merck official said.

The drug and chemicals maker gets some 20 percent of pharmaceutical revenue from the United States, compared with an average of about 50 percent at most global pharma firms.

"That's where we want to be," Stefan Oschmann, who heads up Merck's pharmaceutical business, told reporters during a visit to the Merck Serono bio incubator near Tel Aviv on Tuesday.

He declined to give a timetable as to when the company would like to achieve this goal.

Through its EMD Serono unit near Boston, Merck sells a number of products in the United States including multiple sclerosis drug Rebif as well as fertility treatments.

"Will that be enough to be a major player in the United States? We shall see. So, we are open to collaborations and we are open to acquisitions in this area," Oschmann said.

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Nov 14, 2013

Merck KGaA says eyes acquisitions at all four units

Germany's Merck KGaA (MRCG.DE) said it would look into possible acquisitions to strengthen all of its four business divisions - prescription drugs, non-prescription drugs, laboratory equipment and specialty chemicals.

"We have four sustainable business divisions that are set to grow organically, but for all four areas we have ideas for steps that go beyond that," Chief Executive Karl-Ludwig Kley told journalists at a press conference on Thursday.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/11/14/us-merckkgaa-results-acquisitions-idUSBRE9AD0GL20131114

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Bayer bids $2.4 billion for Norwegian cancer drug partner Algeta

Nov 26, 2013

A Bayer spokesman confirmed it had made an offer but said it did not want to provide details at this point.

The decision to go public with the preliminary offer followed a leak in the German media overnight.

Algeta CFO Oystein Soug declined to comment on the level of the bid but told Reuters that his company is under no pressure to do a deal. "I think this company has great prospects on a standalone basis," he said in a telephone interview.

CANCER FOCUS

The push by large pharmaceuticals companies to acquire smaller biotech businesses to gain new drugs that could bolster income is focusing increasingly on cancer therapy.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/bayer-makes-2-4-billion-takeover-bid-norways-071321760--finance.html#VBTGVIp

[biopharm]

More signs from Calico...

We don’t know much yet about the initiative, dubbed Calico, but Page revealed in a blog post that it will receive funding from Google. Biotechnology mogul Arthur Levinson, 63, who sat on both Google and Apple’s boards and formerly served as the chief executive at Genentech, will lead Calico as its CEO. Levinson said he declined numerous high-profile CEO positions before agreeing to join Calico.

“This was just so out of the [blue] that I instantly got extremely excited about it,” Dr. Levinson said in a rare interview with the New York Times.

...well over a dozen academics reached out to ask how they could get in touch with Levinson — we rarely see this level of interest for an early-stage venture.

http://medcitynews.com/2013/12/indicators-googles-calico-anti-aging-project-wont-pie-sky/
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Dr. Robert Garnick.... CERTAINLY (imho) has talked to Art Levinson... I have a feeling we are all in for a little surprise on this front