2015年1月10日讯 /生物谷BIOON/ --对于生物医药产业来说，2014年发生了太多的故事。吉利德天价药物风波、肿瘤免疫疗法的兴起等等都足以影响世界生物医药发展的进程。而其中最引人注目的，当属2014年掀起的生物医药兼并狂潮。
据粗略统计，2014年生物医药产业进行了超过两千三百五十亿美元的兼并重组业务，这一数字甚至是2013年的三倍之多。而2014年也成为过去十年中，生物医药产业兼并重组最为激烈的一年。这其中的原因是多方面的，首先是生物医药产业的整体利润仍然保持在一个较低的水平，迫使生物医药公司通过兼并来扩大市场份额；另一方面，专利悬崖的到来使得各大生物医药公司面临着来自仿制药的强劲挑战，生物医药公司需要通过进行兼并来获得新鲜血液的补充；最后，由于美国生物医药公司的高税率，许多生物医药公司都通过兼并收购变更公司的注册地从而企图降低税率。
然而，分析人士认为，2014年的结束或许并不意味着生物医药产业兼并风潮告一段落，一些迹象显示2015年的生物医药兼并或许将再攀高峰。这其中的一个重要迹象就是，辉瑞公司在收购兼并市场上的雄心不死，2014年在辉瑞以1170亿美元的价格收购阿斯利康的尝试失败之后，辉瑞公司就一直在寻找其他潜在收购对象。有消息称，辉瑞公司将艾伯维、葛兰素史克、百时美施贵宝和Actavis都列为可能的兼并对象。如果消息属实的话，辉瑞公司必将在2015年的生物医药市场中掀起惊天波澜。
此外，由于之前奥巴马政府对医药企业海外兼并的紧急措施，导致2014年的另一项大规模收购案--艾伯维550亿美元收购Shire的计划胎死腹中。不过，2015年Shire公司已经布局开始在2015年生物医药兼并市场有一番作为。
详细英文报道：
2014 turned out to be the most active year in decades for the health-care industry in terms of mergers and acquisitions, and 2015 is expected to be no different, as companies look to boost their pipeline and outdo rivals
The year 2014 saw a record number of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in the health-care industry, and 2015 is expected to be no different, especially in light of the fact that big names in the health-care sector like Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) and Actavis plc (NYSE:ACT) are still scouting for potential acquisition targets, as they look to expand their product portfolio and stream in higher revenue and earnings.
Analysts expect drug manufacturers to stay busy in M&A-related activities this year as well, even after the sector witnessed $235 billion worth of acquisitions in 2014, almost triple the volume seen in 2013. The health-care sector led M&A-related activities in 2014 as many players acquired targets located overseas in an attempt to relocate their corporate headquarters so as to save on tax bills. Rich Jeanneret, vice chairperson of Transaction Advisory Services at Ernst & Young in New York, said in a telephone interview with Bloomberg that 2014 was marked by various high-profile deals, and the trend is likely to continue in 2015 since the confidence in this system has increased.
We at Bidness Etc are of the opinion that the health-care sector will possibly lead M&A-related activity in 2015 as well, because there is always demand for newer, clinically more advanced products in the industry. Interest rates are also expected to remain relatively low in 2015, fueling the inflow of capital into the sector. Furthermore, there has been a boom in recent cancer-related discoveries that have opened up a new realm of cancer immunotherapy drugs. Perhaps yet another reason why the health-care industry can see a lot of M&A activity is increased interest from activist investors who will likely try to follow in Bill Ackman's footsteps. Mr. Ackman gained a staggering $2.5 billion from his stake in Allergan, Inc. (NYSE:AGN), a company he was actively pursuing for acquisition in partnership with Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc (NYSE:VRX).
Pfizer And Shire
Pfizer went on to offer a hostile bid of $117 billion to AstraZeneca plc (ADR) (NYSE:AZN) last year, which did not materialize. The failure of the deal, however, does not mean that Pfizer is not going to go after large names in the sector anymore. Pfizer has a huge cash pile and is open to the idea of using the cash for acquisitions. Hence, companies like AbbVie Inc (NASDAQ:ABBV), GlaxoSmithKline plc (ADR) (NYSE:GSK), Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (NYSE:BMY), and Actavis continue to remain suspected targets. Pfizer has also spoken about a possible split-up.
Shire PLC (ADR) (NASDAQ:SHPG) is yet another firm which is up for pursuing smaller companies. Irish-headquartered Shire has NPS Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:NPSP) on its list of targets, according to people familiar with the matter. Some sources have cited Zoetis Inc (NYSE:ZTS) and Salix Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. (NASDAQ:SLXP) as other potential acquisition targets for Shire.
In late 2014, Actavis finalized a deal with Botox-maker Allergan, disappointing Valeant which had been pursuing Allergan for a hostile takeover for as long as seven months. Valeant is now expected to be looking into other potential acquisition targets. The company might consider acquiring dental firms, as mentioned in a recent Cantor Fitzgerald report.
Big pharma is also on the lookout to boost its pipeline by adding more assets, particularly in the immunotherapy category. Kevin Starr, partner and co-founder at Third Rock Ventures, said in an interview with Bloomberg that outsourcing innovation has become the norm for big companies, as evident from the fact that Merck KGaA and Pfizer signed an agreement that gave Pfizer rights to an immunotherapy drug in exchange for $850 million. Bristol-Myers and Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) have also received authorization for dermatological cancer treatments based in immunotherapy.
Activist investors are also likely to keep M&A activity surging as they piece in the fact that hedge funds stand to gain immensely from M&As, provided they are exposed to the right company at the right time - yet another useful lesson taught by Mr. Ackman's involvement in Allergan.