Merck is, this very morning, offering all-cash to get Idenix -- and it will get the company -- it will certainly clear HSR by October of this year. More details at the Goldman Sachs appearance on June 12, 2014 -- in all likelihood.
What fascinates me, here -- is that with this buy, Merck solidfies its potentially multi-billion dollar patent infringement claim, against Gilead's SovaldiTM. Now, if it turns out that Sovaldi infringes, only Whitehouse Station will be the recipient. And that payout could easily eclispe what Merck just paid for all of Idenix. IF even one drug comes out of the Idenix legacy pipeline, Merck will be miles ahead. Miles ahead. Smart deal, all around.
FireceBioTech was the first to note this angle (while I slept!) -- so he gets lead, here. Let's listen in -- John Caroll is right on point here -- do go read all of his excellent analysis:
. . . . has come up with a $3.85 billion cash deal to buy out Idenix, a biotech company best known for its setbacks in hepatitis C drug research. The deal instantly broadens Merck's hep C portfolio and also widens the front in its legal battle for a share of the megablockbuster hep C drug Sovaldi, sold by Gilead. . . .
Both Merck and Idenix have also filed claims against Gilead in a patent war over Sovaldi. Both companies have claimed a stake in the drug, which Gilead acquired in its $11 billion acquisition of Pharmasset. Merck has demanded a 10% royalty on the drug, saying the drug violated its hep C patents. . . .
This will be a great horserace -- much like the one underway on anti-PD-1 death receptor therapies, in cancer. The Hep C market opportunity is decidedly smaller than the cancer one though, as Gilead is curing patients day by day, now. Do stay tuned. . . .
No comments:
Post a Comment