A bit of a break from the big C-word this week, with news on three major mergers that have, like buses, all turned up at once: the Abbvie/Allergan merger has been cleared by the EU, with a divestiture; Thermo Fisher has acquired Qiagen for a hefty $11.5 billion; and Gilead buys oncology company Forty Seven for $4.9 billion. In other news, I lied about the break from Coronavirus news. The EU has offered €45 million towards a cure for COVID-19, and illness-hit India is limiting medical exports, fuelling a fear of shortages.

ABBVIE/ALLERGAN MERGER CLEARED BY EU, AFTER BRAZIKUMAB DIVESTITURE – EU regulators have cleared the $63 billion merger between Abbvie and Allergan, with one divestiture. This was the gastrointestinal autoimmune disease drug brazikumab, which proved sufficient to allay competition doubts. AstraZeneca has agreed to recover the rights to brazikumab. The European Commission feared would give the merged entity too much power in the Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis disease markets. The FTC and Irish High Court still need to ratify the merger. 

THERMO FISHER FINALLY SET TO ACQUIRE QIAGEN FOR $11.5 BILLION – Thermo Fisher Scientific has acquired Qiagen for $11.5 billion after months of difficulty. The deal should see complementary offerings among the companies’ clinical diagnostics and life science research support businesses. The two companies both offer a number of consumables and reagents in similar markets. These will require competition scrutiny from international regulators before the deal is finalised. The deal is set to conclude by the first half of 2021. 

GILEAD BUYS FORTY SEVEN FOR $4.9 BILLION – Gilead has proposed a $4.9 billion acquisition of oncology company Forty Seven. The purchase will add several blood cancer-targeting antibodies to its pipeline. The acquisition will complement therapies brought in from Kite Pharma, bought for $11.9 billion three years ago. 

In other news: 

R&D
EU offers €45 million towards COVID-19 research and development, alongside fast-track approval

Clinical Trials
FDA gives green light to Sanofi multiple myeloma medication Sarclisa

Manufacturing
India limits medicine exports, fuelling shortage worries 

That’s all for now. See you next week!

Joshua Neil, Editor
Proventa International

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