abelheira schreef op 9 februari 2016 16:02:
Artikel :
The other small acquisition that seems to make a lot of sense eventually would be in Galapagos (NASDAQ:GLPG). Gilead recently made a major investment in a collaboration deal with this small Belgium based concern. Gilead paid a $300 million license fee and made a more than $400 million equity investment for just under 15% of the company.
The companies will co-develop Galapago's lead product candidate filgotinib for inflammatory indications, starting with rheumatoid arthritis (NYSE:RA) and Crohn's disease. Phase 2 trial data show that filgotinib has the potential to be an effective and well-tolerated oral therapy for patients with RA and Crohn's disease. Phase 3 trials results will be greatly anticipated.
Gilead will also owe Galapagos substantial milestone payments and royalties should development lead to successful approval and commercialized products. Galapagos has a smaller collaboration deal with AbbVie targeting cystic fibrosis which would make an acquisition a bit more complicated, but nothing Gilead would not be able to work through if it is so desired.
Galapagos traded north of $60.00 a share before all the "fun" in the biotech sector and the overall market began a few months ago. GLPG currently trades at around $40.00 a share. A buyout in the range of $60.00 to $70.00 a share would cost around ~$1.9 billion to ~$2.2 billion backing out the stake Gilead already has in Galapagos and the cash on the smaller concern's balance sheet. It would also save a lot of milestone and other payments for Gilead should filgotinib development efforts proved fruitful.