Seagen Gets A Nice Nod, From FDA -- In Oncology Arena... Will It Rekindle... Merck's Appetite? We Shall See.

Honestly, I think industry-wide, valuations have come in, a bit (since the heady days of last summer) -- and if the two sides were (as rumored) around $10 billion apart, last summer. . . this FDA nod may just have widened the gap. Merck (generally) would be arguing that some water has run out of all of life science companies' tubs. . . while Seagen will be touting this new and very substantial cash flow and profitability franchise. . . to up its valuation.

So. . . no, I'd expect that the M&A ship. . . as to Merck/SeaGen, has passed. But I could get surprised. Specifically, I think Seagen would want more than $40 billion now, to sell itself. Here's the bit -- from FiercePharma's reporting, earlier today:

. . .The FDA on Thursday granted an accelerated approval to Seagen's Tukysa as a second-line treatment along with Herceptin for RAS wild-type, HER2-positive unresectable or metastatic colorectal cancer. Specifically, the drug is approved in combination with Roche's Herceptin for patients whose cancer progressed after treatment with fluoropyrimidine-, oxaliplatin- or irinotecan-based chemotherapy.

With the approval, the combination becomes the first FDA-approved treatment for HER2-positive metastatic colorectal cancer, Seagen noted. . . .

Now you know. . . stranger things. . . could (in fact, have) happened. Grinning, out into the night here -- with snows due again tomorrow night. . . . sigh.

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