July round-up of pharma and biotech M&A activity

2 August 2017

There was a summer slowdown in the pace of pharma and biotech mergers and acquisitions during July, and it is likely to continue into August.

Of the deals that were announced, a couple stood out in particular: Japanese drugmaker Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma (TYO: 4508) is buying the central nervous system disorders specialist NeuroDerm in a $1.1 billion deal, reportedly the biggest sum ever paid for an Israeli company outside the high-tech field, while French pharma major Sanofi (Euronext: SAN) is to fork out $650 million for a US vaccine firm, its first acquisition since 2015.

Company	Takeover candidate	Value	Why?
Advent International	Grupo Farmacéutico SOMAR (Endo International's Mexican subsidiary)	Around $124 million	Part of the divestment of Endo's non-core assets to allow it to realize its strategy of re-directing its resources to core areas of growth; acquiring Advent a leading player in the large, growing Mexican private generics market in a deal that aligns well with its aligns well with its healthcare sector focus in the region
Sanofi	Protein Sciences	$650 million upfront plus up to $100 million in milestones	To allow Sanofi to acquire Protein Sciences' Flublok Quadrivalent Influenza Vaccine, the only approved recombinant protein-based influenza vaccine in the USA
Haitong International Zhonghua Finance Acquisition Fund I	Obagi Medical Products (Valeant Pharmaceuticals International's skin care products business)	$190 million	Part of Valeant's efforts to streamline its operations and reduce debt; giving the China Regenerative Medicine-backed fund a global specialty pharmaceutical company founded by leading skin care experts in 1988
Tissue Regenix	CellRight Technologies	Up to $30 million	To allow Tissue Regenix to acquire a US regenerative medicine business focused on the development and commercialisation of a range of human tissue products based on proprietary bone processing techniques and soft tissue products for clinical applications in spine, dental, sports medicine and general surgery
Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma	NeuroDerm	$1.1 billion	Providing NeuroDerm investors with a significant return on their investment; giving the Japanese company a central nervous system disorders specialist that is currently developing new methods of delivery for the popular levodopa and carbidopa drug combination, used to treat symptoms of Parkinson’s disease
Evotec	Aptuit	$300 million	Purchase of a major contract research organization to expand Evotec's position as a leading player in the external innovation marketplace

This article is accessible to registered users, to continue reading please register for free. A free trial will give you access to exclusive features, interviews, round-ups and commentary from the sharpest minds in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology space for a week. If you are already a registered user please login. If your trial has come to an end, you can subscribe here.

Try before you buy

Free

7 day trial access

Take a Free Trial

All the news that moves the needle in pharma and biotech
Exclusive features, podcasts, interviews, data analyses and commentary from our global network of life sciences reporters.
Receive The Pharma Letter daily news bulletin, free forever.

Become a subscriber

£820

Or £77 per month

Subscribe Now

Unfettered access to industry-leading news, commentary and analysis in pharma and biotech.
Updates from clinical trials, conferences, M&A, licensing, financing, regulation, patents & legal, executive appointments, commercial strategy and financial results.
Daily roundup of key events in pharma and biotech.
Monthly in-depth briefings on Boardroom appointments and M&A news.
Choose from a cost-effective annual package or a flexible monthly subscription

The Pharma Letter is an extremely useful and valuable Life Sciences service that brings together a daily update on performance people and products. It’s part of the key information for keeping me informed

Chairman, Sanofi Aventis UK