Bio Saga Blog - A Chronicle of Life Sciences & Informatics

Creating an alliance to deliver insulin treatments worldwide, Biocon and  Pfizer  have entered into a global commercialisation agreement. Pfizer will make an upfront payment of USD 200 million in a licensing deal for Biocon’s biosimilar insulin portfolio for diabetes treatment. As per the agreement,  Biocon  will also be eligible to get additional payments of up to USD 150 million. These payments will be linked to sales of Biocon’s insulin biosimilars. In an interview with CNBC-TV18, Vikas Dandekar of pharmasianews.com gave his perspective on the deal. Excerpts from  Reporter's Diary on CNBC-TV18 Watch the full show » Q: What do you make of this arrangement? First of all tell is what is the potential the market size as far as this insulin is concerned and what does this mean both for Biocon and Pfizer? A: A number of biosimilars are scheduled to be launched in the European market. A number of trials are going on, on insulin and this is a big potenti...

Courtesy Bloomberg Sanofi-Aventis  may begin a hostile bid for Genzyme Corp. should the U.S. biotechnology company resist a takeover approach, analysts at Citigroup Inc. said. No other bidder is likely to emerge for Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Genzyme, and Sanofi will probably succeed in acquiring the company for $74 to $77 a share, Citigroup analysts  Mark Dainty  and  Yaron Werber  wrote in a report to clients today. Genzyme is worth $70 a share based on estimated cash flow, and Sanofi would benefit from as much as $5.50 a share of synergies in an acquisition, they said. Investors in Genzyme say Paris-based Sanofi may have to pay at least $80 a share, or $21.3 billion, to acquire the maker of drugs that fight genetic diseases. Sanofi Chief Executive Officer  Chris Viehbacher  has support from his board to offer as much as $70 a share, or about $18.7 billion, and is preparing a formal offer letter, three people familiar with the situation said ...