Samsung Group reportedly in talks to acquire Biogen

INA-  sources

The Samsung Group is reportedly negotiating with Biogen to buy out the U.S. pharmaceutical company in a deal that may be worth up to $42 billion, according to a vernacular financial paper citing investment banking sources.
 
On Wednesday, the Korea Economic Daily reported that if the deal is confirmed, it would mark the biggest overseas acquisition ever by the Samsung Group and will likely be enough to make the company a top-20 pharmaceutical company in the world.
 
The move comes after Biogen faces some difficulties after winning approval for Aduhelm, a new Alzheimer's disease treatment, for the first time in nearly 20 years.
 
Biogen initially expected that Aduhelm would serve as a buffer to the sales decline of its main blockbuster drugs, such as Tecfidera (multiple sclerosis treatment) and Spinraza (muscle disease treatment), due to rising competition.
 
Spinraza sales inched down to $2.05 billion in 2020 from $2.1 billion in 2019 amid competition with Roche and Novartis medicines. Worse yet, the medicine’s third-quarter sales plunged by 23.5 percent, from $183 million to $140 million year to year in the U.S., and fell by 2.5 percent, from $312 million to $304 million in other markets.
 
Biogen's revenue for Tecfidera also plummeted 47.6 percent from $953 million to $499 million during the same period due to the new generic’s challenge.
 
However, the company's plans to use Aduhelm as a buffer to counter the decline in sales of its other blockbuster drugs have not progressed smoothly as the sales of the first Alzheimer’s treatment have been slower than expected, with hospitals complaining that the drug's high cost was not worth its benefits.
 
Despite becoming the first new treatment for Alzheimer's in 18 years to receive FDA approval, the drug's sales reached only 2 percent of its target of $14 million in the third quarter.
 
On Dec. 20, Biogen said it would slash the price of Aduhelm by about half to $28,200 and possibly carry out layoffs.
 
While officials from Samsung and Biogen were not available for immediate comments, a Biogen Korea official said he had heard about the sale rumors circulated in the market previously.
 
“However, the Korean branch is unaware of acquisitions and sales as they are usually carried out at the headquarters and are conducted in secret until the company's official announcement,” the official told Korea Biomedical Review on Thursday.
 
Although the report could not be confirmed immediately, the share price of Biogen on the U.S. NASDAQ market stood at $258.31 at market-end on Wednesday, up 9.46 percent from the previous trading day.