Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc received a takeover approach this spring from Takeda Pharmaceutical Co and investment firm TPG, which it rejected, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.
Specialty drugmaker Valeant has been struggling to revive itself after its business model and drug pricing practices came under scrutiny, and it recently brought in a new CEO, Joseph Papa. The Takeda-TPG approach — which did not include a firm price — was made before Papa’s appointment, and there are no talks under way currently, the Journal reported.
Papa on Monday said at the UBS Global Healthcare Conference that Valeant has a “very good pipeline” of new drugs that has not been fully appreciated.
The board is giving Papa time to set a new course for the Laval, Quebec-based drugmaker, the Journal said.
Representatives for three firms declined to comment.
Valeant bought Salix Pharmaceuticals Ltd last year, gaining access to a portfolio of gastrointestinal treatments, a disease area Takeda is focusing on.
Osaka-based Takeda is Japan’s largest pharmaceutical company, and CEO Christophe Weber has repeatedly stated his ambitions to make the company a global leader in oncology and gastrointestinal treatments and to gain control of new drugs the company can develop to sell worldwide.
The Japanese drugmaker spent more than US$21 billion on its two biggest acquisitions, purchasing Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc to expand in cancer therapies in 2008 and Zurich-based Nycomed in 2011 to grow in emerging markets.
A deal with Valeant would have given Takeda access to Xifaxan, a potential blockbuster drug for irritable bowel syndrome.
TPG, whose main offices are in San Francisco and Fort Worth, Texas, has more than US$70 billion under management and has invested in all sectors of healthcare, including hospitals, biotechnology firms and insurers.
The Eurovision Song Contest has seen a surge in punter interest at the bookmakers, becoming a major betting event, experts said ahead of last night’s giant glamfest in Basel. “Eurovision has quietly become one of the biggest betting events of the year,” said Tomi Huttunen, senior manager of the Online Computer Finland (OCS) betting and casino platform. Betting sites have long been used to gauge which way voters might be leaning ahead of the world’s biggest televised live music event. However, bookmakers highlight a huge increase in engagement in recent years — and this year in particular. “We’ve already passed 2023’s total activity and
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) today announced that his company has selected "Beitou Shilin" in Taipei for its new Taiwan office, called Nvidia Constellation, putting an end to months of speculation. Industry sources have said that the tech giant has been eyeing the Beitou Shilin Science Park as the site of its new overseas headquarters, and speculated that the new headquarters would be built on two plots of land designated as "T17" and "T18," which span 3.89 hectares in the park. "I think it's time for us to reveal one of the largest products we've ever built," Huang said near the
China yesterday announced anti-dumping duties as high as 74.9 percent on imports of polyoxymethylene (POM) copolymers, a type of engineering plastic, from Taiwan, the US, the EU and Japan. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce’s findings conclude a probe launched in May last year, shortly after the US sharply increased tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, computer chips and other imports. POM copolymers can partially replace metals such as copper and zinc, and have various applications, including in auto parts, electronics and medical equipment, the Chinese ministry has said. In January, it said initial investigations had determined that dumping was taking place, and implemented preliminary
Intel Corp yesterday reinforced its determination to strengthen its partnerships with Taiwan’s ecosystem partners including original-electronic-manufacturing (OEM) companies such as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and chipmaker United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電). “Tonight marks a new beginning. We renew our new partnership with Taiwan ecosystem,” Intel new chief executive officer Tan Lip-bu (陳立武) said at a dinner with representatives from the company’s local partners, celebrating the 40th anniversary of the US chip giant’s presence in Taiwan. Tan took the reins at Intel six weeks ago aiming to reform the chipmaker and revive its past glory. This is the first time Tan