Bristol Myers Squibb Purchases Medarex

This was shockingly huge news yesterday as Medarex went from 8 to 16 points in a matter of an instant. Do regular people say points or dollars. Nonetheless. This was front page of CBS MarketWatch last night.

July 22, 2009, 7:54 p.m. EST
Bristol-Myers to buy Medarex for $16 a share cash
Deal values Medarex at almost double its Wednesday close

This happened last night during aftermarket hours but it happened so fast I don't know how anyone who hadn't purchased it that afternoon could have gotten in on that one. It is exciting to see these kinds of things and you wish you could have some forewarning and there probably was but I just hadn't heard about it. Anyways, MED fizzled out at 15.87 and well they're getting bought for 16 so unless you are buying Bristol Stock, or you wish to, good luck with that one. Anyways, they do have a few good things in the pipeline and that is good for Bristol. There have been so many mergers that I guess I need to get more research on the merger deals. Unfortunately most of that info comes real close to insider trading and you know how Wall St frowns on all of that. Thanks Martha Stewart!!!

So Lets Talk Mergers Why Don't We.

Oh there's the whole Merck-Schering deal. Roche-Genentech, oh that one was bruttle wasn't it. Wyeth and Pfizer Ahhh wasn't that so nice and sweet, for Pfizer maybe but I think it was dumb. Most of these are. Just the big fish feeding on down the food chain and getting rid of hardworking people in the Biopharma industry. All in the name of a buck. Hey I need money too but it gets a little old after working in the industry for awhile, constantly getting bought out and name changes and new corporate bull.

That brings me to my little company's ordeal that I used to work for. Covance to Akzo Nobel to Organon Biosciences to umm what the hell, to Schering Plough To Merck. I mean how many times does one place have to change the sign out front. Seriously can't be a good environment when all that is happening. But many stay with mergers, many leave, many quit, and many are fired or laid off or whatever to generate more profits for the big fish. I also went through this when Bayer sold their plant to some Venture capitalist firm and called it Talecris. But just recently Talecris was getting bought by an Australian firm and that deal was blocked by the SEC earlier this year. So who knows anymore. There is little stability in the biotech industry when it comes to small companies. Eventually no matter how promising they all sell out and spend the rest of their days on the coast of France while the rest of the workers are generally screwed.

Aghhhh, biotech and its turnover can get rough when companies are constantly buying and selling each other out. Its bruttle out there sometimes and you have to decide what you really want out of life and how much do you like the flourescent lighting in the labs. Anyways, got a little off topic here.

Point was, I will work on more merger deals here as they can make or break your portolio sometimes.

This was from BioHealth Investor. Maybe my future rival but I hope maybe we could team up someday as I own invest-biohealth.com. I am still working on that website along with biopharmainvestor.com too.

Bristol picks up multiple potential gems with a Medarex deal (BMY, MEDX, ABT, JNJ, AMGN, WYE)
July 23, 2009

Bristol Myers Inc. (NYSE: BMY) plans to spend $2.4 billion to buy partner Medarex Inc. (Nasdaq: MEDX), and it’s getting more than just the cancer monoclonal antibody that developed together.

There are other potential gems in the Medarex pipeline.

The monoclonal antibody ipilimumab is by far the main reason that Bristol pulled the trigger. It is currently in Phase III trials for both metastatic melanoma and hormone-refractory prostate cancer.

Last month, the U.K.’s Independent reported that patients that took a single does of ipilimumab in a trial obliterated the prostate cancer. The paper called the research a “shock breakthrough”. Researchers took the unusual step of releasing case details ahead of the drug trial in which the patients took part, mostly because the recovery of those patients was so surprising. One metastatic patient apparently had a tumor the size of a golf ball. It shrank enough to be surgically removed and the patient made a full recovery.

There could be no bigger potential cancer market for a monoclonal antibody than prostate cancer. It is the largest potential cancer market with 192,280 cases diagnosed each year, according to the National Cancer Institute — more new cases than even breast cancer.

With ipilimumab, Bristol has picked up a candidate that has the potential to become a drug in not only advanced prostate cancer, but also non small-cell lung cancer and melanoma.

The other potential products in the Medarex pipeline that show promise include MDX-1106, a fully human IgG4 antibody in patients with refractory solid tumors including non-small cell lung cancer, colon cancer, melanoma, or prostate cancer. It’s in early stage trials, but so far has shown anti-tumor activity. In the future, it may be something that Bristol tests as a combination therapy along with ipilimumab.

One additional big candidate that Bristol would own if the deal gets shareholder approval would be MDX-1100, which recently went through a Phase II study in rheumatoid arthritis. The drug met its primary endpoint; full data is expected later this year.

While rheumatoid arthritis is a crowded market with market leader Humira from Abbott Laboratories Inc. (NYSE: ABT) Johnson & Johnson’s (NYSE: JNJ) Remicade and Amgen Inc. (NYSE: AMGN) and Wyeth’s (NYSE: WYE) Enbrel, there is promise with any new arthritis drug that shows safety and efficacy. The CDC projects that the number of people age 65 or older who have arthritis or chronic joint symptoms will nearly double from 21.4 million in 2001 to 41.4 million in 2030, as more people are living longer.

Shareholders may balk at the high price Bristol plans to pay for Medarex. But there are likely to be few questions about the strength of the Medarex pipeline, or that Bristol Myers is the natural acquirer given the strength of their partnership. — Mike Tarsala

If you're out there Biohealth investor, I like your site and would like to introduce myself as biopharma investor. Anyways.

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