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As predicted by many industry insiders and Wall Street analysts, the Genzyme board may be  holding out for at least a $75 per share offer from Sanofi-Aventis.  Previously, Sanofi-Aventis offered Genzyme $69 per share despite clear signals from Genzyme's board and its shareholder that the proffered offer was inadequate.

The Genzyme board is likely under extreme pressure to hold out for the $75 per share price because that is the price being sought by its powerful and influential minority shareholders Carl Icahn and Ralph Whitworth.

Carl Icahn, no stranger to corporate buyouts, is a master at getting the price that he wants for the companies that he sells. He previously sold ImClone to Eli Lilly for $70 per share after Jim Cornelius, Bristol-Myers Squibb’s former CEO, refused to offer more than $64 per share of ImClone stock.

Conventional wisdom suggests that Sanofi will likely buy Genzyme for at least $75 per share if not more!

Stay tuned for updates!

Until next time..

Good Luck and Good Job Hunting!!!!!!!

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Novartis AG today announced it plans to take over Alcon Inc. by paying $38.5 billion for the 77 percent stake it does not already own in a deal that would make it one of the biggest players in the global market for eye-care products.

The Swiss pharmaceutical and generics giant had already purchased 25 percent of Alcon from Nestle in April 2008 for $11 billion, with the option of buying the food and drinks company's remaining stake at a later date. With the acquisition of Alcon, Novartis will control about 70% of the world’s vision market (it already owns the Ciba Vision brand). Alcon is based in Huenenberg, Switzerland, and has its U.S. headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas. The company employs some 15,000 people worldwide and specializes in surgical equipment and devices, contacts lens solutions and other consumer eye-care products.

Daniel Vasella, MD, Novartis’ Chairman and CEO, said "This is the right time to simplify Alcon's ownership to eliminate uncertainties for employees and shareholders." He added "It will also allow us to strengthen innovation power by combining R&D efforts and grow our global market presence thanks to our complementary product portfolios."

If I were a betting man, I would say that Novartis is the pharmaceutical company to watch over the next decade. Like Johnson and Johnson, the company has diversified its business to include consumer goods, vaccines and perhaps most importantly generic pharmaceuticals via its Sandoz division. One area that Novartis hasn’t fully embraced to date is devices. However, as we enter the age of personalized medicine, don’t be surprised if the company acquires or invests in a variety of medical devices and diagnostic companies!

Until next time...

Good Luck and Good Job Hunting!!!!!!!!

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The Pharmalot Blog reported today that AstraZeneca offered all of it sales representatives—numbering 5,000-6,000—a buyout option. However, AstraZeneca prefers to avoid the term buyout and instead instructed its reps to ’self identify’ whether or not they want a package to leave the company. According to the post, an AstraZeneca spokesman declined to discuss how many reps it would like to shed, but did provide this statement:

“AstraZeneca is making changes to our sales force, which will be managed first by looking at vacancies and offering field sales employees the opportunity to self-identify whether they are interested in leaving the company. We will know the full scope of the changes in the coming weeks.”

Like many other pharma companies, AstraZeneca will lose $11.1 billion in patented-protected revenue by the end of 2012 and face stiff generic competition.

Pharma sales reps, like R&D scientists, have been facing tough times over the past three years or so. In the late 1990s, pharma companies hired massive numbers of reps, only to realize several years later, that increasing the number of reps didn’t necessarily translate into increase drug sales. The economic downturn, coupled with projected loss of revenues due to patent expiry of blockbuster drugs over the next few years, provided pharma with an opportunity to downsize. Finally, the growing use of web-based strategies to educate physicians, contract sales forces and a diminishing number of products led to the demise of the pharma rep as we know it.

My recommendation to downsized reps is to get some biotechnology training or device/diagnostic training and to try and leverage previous experience into sales jobs at biotechnology and devices companies. Both industries have enormous growth potential and the transition from pharma to them shouldn’t be all that onerous.

Until next time...

Good Luck and Good Job Hunting!!!!!!

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Late Thursday, after 8 months of difficult and often acrimonious negotiations, Genentech’s board finally caved and agreed to allow Roche to purchase the remaining 44% of the outstanding Genentech shares that it doesn’t already own. The price: $95 per share—less than the $112 per share that Genentech’s board and management team wanted —but better than the $86.50 per share that was tendered last fall.

While Roche contends that it will continue to run Genentech as an autonomously operating business unit, many Genentech employees are dubious. I suspect that many DNA (Genentech’s stock symbol) employees will embrace a “wait and see” attitude before any decisions are made about whether or not to stay at the “new company.” Roche’s greatest challenge will be integrating the two companies without ruining Genentech’s innovative culture and immediately sending its best scientists and management team out the door. Pharma and biotech corporate cultures are very different from one another and many biotech employees find it difficult to adapt to big pharma’s slow-moving and anachronistic approach to drug development. As previously reported, US business operations of both companies will be based at Genentech’s headquarters in South San Francisco, CA rather than in Nutley, NJ, where Roche’s American business is currently based. This is not good news for many of Roche’s Nutley employees. Roche has been trying unsuccessfully for years to jettison the Nutley site and it seems likely now. Don’t be surprised if you see a mass exodus at the Nutley site. All of Roche’s US products will be sold under the Genentech brand.

Roche’s purchase of Genentech, America’s oldest biotechnology company (started in 1976) and considered by many to be the crown jewel of the industry, truly signals the end of an era. Let’s hope that another “Genentech” (and others like it) emerge as the US biotechnology industry continues to evolve in the 21^st century.

Until next time...

Good Luck and Good Job Hunting!!!!!

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At lunch the other day, I was telling a bunch of people about how brilliant Roche’s biotechnology strategy has been for the past 20 years or so. All of this changed for me on Monday, when Roche announced that it wanted to buy the remaining shares of Genentech that it already doesn’t own for $ 43.7 billion —Roche currently owns 56% of Genentech’s stock. More importantly, Roche doesn’t have control of Genentech’s board of directors nor does it influence corporate strategy or product development.

Unlike many other pharma companies who have historically purchased  biotechnology companies and then integrated them into existing corporate structures, Roche previously opted to buy controlling interests in companies and then allowed them to continue to operate independently with little corporate input or guidance. Unlike pharma culture, which is very structured and inherently conservative, the most successful biotechnology companies have been built on cultures that promote creativity and “thinking outside the box”.   If Roche buys Genentech and attempts to integrate it into the existing Roche family of companies, I suspect that all of this will change dramatically.

For the past 30 years or so, Genentech has been one of the brightest stars in the biotechnology universe.  Genentech’s management team worked long and hard to implement and maintain a vision that was formulated way back in the late 1970s when the company was first formed. Even though it is the world’s largest and most financially successful biotechnology company, Genentech has steadfastly resisted the temptation to go “corporate” and has worked diligently to maintain its “biotechnology identity” —symbolized by innovation, creativity and employee-centric policies.

I have no doubt that if the Roche-Genentech deal is approved, there will be a mass exodus of talent from the company. Based on my experience, a publicly-treaded biotechnology employee’s greatest fear is the dreaded corporate takeover! I have yet to meet a biotechnology company employee who is willing to sacrifice freedom and creativity (despite a possible financial upside) for more structure, discipline and an endless plethora of rules! 

In my opinion, the deal makes sense for Roche—competition in the cancer space is intense and they want to hedge their future success on Genentech’s oncology franchise. In the best case scenario, Roche will buy Genentech but allow it to operate as a wholly owned subsidiary with an independent management team that spends as little time in Basel as possible. I think the old adage “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” is particularly apt here!

Until next time….

Good Luck and Good Job Hunting!!!!!!

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