PHARMACEUTICALS
Pfizer outbids competitors for Medivation Drug major hopes $14 billion deal will cement a lead position in oncology Pfizer has signed an agreement to acquire firm Leerink that a winner would pay up Medivation, a biopharmaceutical firm speto $70.00 per share for the San Franciscializing in cancer therapies, for $14 billion co-based biotech. Medivation’s closing in cash. The deal is the latest in a string of stock price on Aug. 19, the business day beacquisition moves by the U.S. drug major, fore the deal was announced, was $67.16. which failed in bids to acquire AstraZeneca Pfizer is banking on Medivation to put in 2014 and Allergan it in a lead position in CF3 F O earlier this year. CH3 oncology, where it is NC It also caps a courtfinding success with the S N H ship in which Sanofi metastatic breast canN N and several other big cer treatment Ibrance, drug companies have approved in 2015. O been vying to acquire Medivation, which Xtandi (enzalutamide) Medivation, whose comarkets Xtandi with portfolio includes Xtandi, an androgen its development partner, Astellas Pharma, receptor inhibitor for the treatment of adhas a late-stage pipeline with two primary vanced metastatic prostate cancer. assets—talazoparib, in Phase III trials for Pfizer’s bid for Medivation of $81.50 the treatment of BRCA-mutated breast canper share comes in well over Sanofi’s offer cer, and pidilizumab, an immuno-oncology of $52.00, which would have amounted drug under development for diffuse large to a deal worth $9.3 billion. Pfizer is also B-cell lymphoma. overshooting a forecast by the investment “Ibrance and Xtandi are anchor brands
in breast and prostate cancer, respectively, giving Pfizer leadership in two hormone-driven cancers,” says Albert Bourla, group president of Pfizer Innovative Health. Pfizer and Medivation have worked together before, developing Dimebon, an antihistamine that Medivation CEO David T. Hung championed as an Alzheimer’s disease treatment. Dimebon failed in Phase III clinical trials in 2010, and the companies terminated their development partnership two years later. Pfizer’s most recent attempt to boost growth through acquisition came to grief in April when the Allergan deal was blocked by the U.S. Department of Treasury, which viewed it as a so-called inversion deal under which a U.S. company moves its base to a country with a more favorable tax environment. Pfizer would have established its headquarters in Ireland. The following month, Pfizer did succeed in striking a deal for Anacor Pharmaceuticals, a boron chemistry specialist, for $5.2 billion.—RICK
MULLIN
AGRICULTURE
ChemChina’s Syngenta acquisition clears hurdle
CREDIT: CHINAHBZYG/SHUTTERSTOCK
Green light from U.S. security committee comes amid more industry restructuring ChemChina’s quest to finalize its purchase of agriculture giant Syngenta this year got a major boost last week when the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS) cleared the transaction. The deal still has to satisfy antitrust regulators around the world while consolidation is bringing increased scrutiny of the agriculture industry. CFIUS reviews purchases of U.S. businesses by foreign firms to determine if they affect national security. Although Syngenta has its headquarters in Switzerland, the crop chemicals and seeds company fell under CFIUS’s jurisdiction because it has significant U.S. operations. Earlier this year, the committee scotched Chinese efforts to buy electronics and light-emitting diode firms. But it appears to be less concerned about food securi-
ty issues that might arise from Chinese ownership. ChemChina’s $43 billion offer to buy Syngenta in February was the second of what may be a full round-robin of mergers as large agriculture firms look for ways to grow profits in a slow global economy. It came after Dow Chemical agreed to a merger of equals with DuPont and after Syngenta rejected a similar offer from Monsanto. Next up could be an agreement by Monsanto to be acquired by Bayer. According to Laurence Alexander, an analyst at the investment bank Jefferies, the companies may now move quickly to secure a place in line to undergo review by antitrust regulators. The global nature of the giant agriculture mergers may throw up obstacles that could delay or alter them, however. The European
Farmers in China will have more access to Syngenta’s seeds and crop chemicals if the firm is acquired by ChemChina. Commission is pursuing a detailed review of the Dow-DuPont deal. And in the U.S., Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, plans to hold hearings on the consolidation activities. He has asked the Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission to coordinate their own reviews (see page 17). To avoid criticisms that the deals are anticompetitive, companies may proactively sell overlapping businesses in a flurry of divestments, Alexander notes, although it is unclear what agriculture companies will still be around to buy them.—MELODY
BOMGARDNER AUGUST 29, 2016 | CEN.ACS.ORG | C&EN
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