Biogen
NEWS
Biogen’s effort to buy Sage against the board’s wishes and a long-time effort by investor Alcorn to scuttle Aurion’s IPO underscore the cutthroat nature of biopharma dealmaking.
The J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference started off with a flurry of deals that reinvigorated excitement across the biopharma industry. Johnson & Johnson moved to acquire Intra-Cellular Therapies for $14.6 billion, breaking a dealmaking barrier that kept Big Pharma’s 2024 biotech buyouts to under $5 billion.
Donald Trump continues to make waves in biopharma; Sage rejects Biogen’s unsolicited takeover offer; the obesity space sees more action with new company launches, IPOs and fresh data; and experts get ready for an important era in the Duchenne muscular dystrophy space.
Following a lawsuit filed last week, Sage has officially rejected Biogen’s unsolicited buyout offer, which valued the embattled biotech at just $469 million.
The monthly maintenance regimen, which offers a more convenient frequency than the initially approved treatment schedule for patients with Alzheimer’s, could help with Leqembi’s thus far disappointing uptake and sales.
In a good-news-bad-news week for Biogen, the company will cut an undisclosed number of employees, just as a higher dose of its Ionis-partnered therapy Spinraza for spinal muscular atrophy will be considered by the FDA and EMA.
Biopharma executives shared their thoughts on the potential impacts of the new administration; Annalee Armstrong recaps JPM and her talks with Biogen, Gilead, Novavax and more; Wegovy’s higher dose induces more weight loss; AstraZeneca and Daiichi Sankyo’s Dato-DXd scores its first FDA approval.
Biogen’s effort to buy Sage reveals its “desire to expand its pipeline at a discount,” according to analysts from BMO Capital Markets.
While investors and analysts push for a deal, Biogen CEO Chris Viehbacher and Head of Development Priya Singhal refuse to make one out of desperation.
JOBS
IN THE PRESS