Week of October 9, 2017 | Vol. 6, Issue 39
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Harmony Biosciences Gains U.S. Rights to Pitolisant, Raises $270 Million
Harmony Biosciences
has spun out of France-based
Paragon Biosciences
with
$270 million in financing
and the exclusive U.S. rights to narcolepsy drug.
Harmony will enter the U.S. with rights to pitolisant, which it acquired from the French company
Bioprojet SCR
. Pitolisant is a selective histamine H3-receptor antagonist/inverse agonist that enhances the activity of histaminergic neurons. It is marketed under the brand name Wakix in Europe, but has not been approved in the United States. In Europe, it has been approved for the treatment of narcolepsy in adult patients with and without cataplexy, a sudden and uncontrollable muscle weakness associated with narcolepsy. Pitolisant increases the release of the brain chemical histamine to increase a patient's wakefulness and alertness, according to Harmony. The new Harmony is helmed by life sciences veteran Bob Repella, the former head of global commercial operations at CSL Behring. Parent Paragon is banking on his more than 30 years of experience in bringing drugs to market to treat orphan and rare disorders. As chief executive officer, Repella's primary course of action will be securing U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for pitolisant.
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Cooke Agrees To Acquire Omega Protein Corporation (OME) For $22.00 Per Share
The transaction price represents a premium of 32.5% to Omega Protein's closing share price on
October 5, 2017
.
Cooke Inc. , a
New Brunswick
company and parent of Cooke Aquaculture Inc., and Omega Protein Corporation, a nutritional product company and a leading integrated provider of specialty oils and specialty protein products, today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement (the "Merger Agreement") under which Cooke will acquire all outstanding shares of Omega Protein for
$22.00
per share in cash. The transaction price represents a premium of 32.5% to Omega Protein's closing share price on
October 5, 2017
. The Merger Agreement has been unanimously approved by the Board of Directors of each of Omega Protein and Cooke. Cooke carries on the business of finfish aquaculture globally through its wholly-owned subsidiary Cooke Aquaculture Inc. The New Brunswick, Canada based Cooke family also has significant investments in wild fisheries globally through their ownership of Cooke Seafood USA, Inc. and Icicle Seafoods, Inc. Cooke Aquaculture Inc. is an aquaculture corporation founded in Blacks Harbour, New Brunswick, Canada with salmon farming operations in Atlantic Canada, the United States, Chile and Scotland, as well as seabass and seabream farming operations in Spain.
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UK Drugmaker BTG To Buy Roxwood Medical For Up To $80 Million
The deal comprises $65 million paid on closing and up to $15 million in potential milestones.
Roxwood's portfolio of anchoring catheters and microcatheters for treatment of complex cardiovascular lesions should leverage BTG's existing successful EKOS (endovascular system) sales and marketing operation, Deutsche Bank analysts said in a note.
Separately, BTG stuck to its double-digit product sales growth forecast, adding that licensing revenue in the first half has benefited from back royalties on Lemtrada, Sanofi's multiple sclerosis treatment. BTG said licensing revenue is expected to decline over the full year by low double digits at constant currency, compared to a previous forecast of a high-teens decline.
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Below are summaries and charts with the past week's transactions from the different healthcare sectors. For a detailed table showing data for each industry transaction click on any of the charts or use the download link above. Total transaction values are provided in USD millions.
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Pharma & Biotech
7 transactions totaling $37 million
Supplies, Equipment & Services
23 transactions totaling $452 million
Healthcare IT & Managed Care
6 transactions totaling $1 million
Healthcare Facilities & Distributors
11 transactions totaling $40 million
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Pharma & Biotech
15 private placements totaling $728 million
Supplies, Equipment & Services
16 private placements totaling $216 million
Healthcare IT & Managed Care
7 private placements totaling $20 million
Healthcare Facilities & Distributors
1 private placements totaling $2 million
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Pharma & Biotech
16 public offering totaling $1,628 million
Supplies, Equipment & Services
5 public offerings totaling $370 million
Healthcare IT & Managed Care
0 public offerings
Healthcare Facilities & Distributors
2 public offering totaling $9 million
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 Each week, w
e provide updated trading
comps for leading comp
anies from numerous healthcare subsectors.
To the right you will see a high-level breakdown of median revenue and EBITDA multiples for each of the specific subsectors
For a complete trading comp analysis (including the individual equities that comprise the subsectors), click on the table to the right or use the download link from the top of this newsletter.
Note: data reflects prior week close.
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RECENT INDUSTRY HEADLINES
A Sampling of Relevant Industry Headlines from the Last Week
Below are snippets from relevant industry news articles from the past week. For additional information or the article's complete text, click the headline link to view the original publication.
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October 6, 2017 - The Wall Street Journal
The Trump administration said Friday it is rolling back an Affordable Care Act requirement that employer-provided health benefits include contraception at no out-of-pocket cost, a move that will likely spark immediate litigation to preserve the Obama -era mandate.
Federal health officials on Friday formalized a rule that would permit any employer with religious objections to birth control to omit coverage for contraception from their workers' plans. There also will be a separate opt-out for nonprofit and some for-profit employers who raise moral, rather than religious, objections to the mandate, according to officials at the Health and Human Services Department.
FDA's Gottlieb pushes new generics rules to encourage price competition
October 3, 2017 -
Fierce Pharma
The FDA's role in drug development has always been to green light safe and effective drugs-not to influence how companies price them. But that was before consumers protested price hikes on Mylan's EpiPen and other drugs, and it was before President Donald Trump accused the pharma industry of "getting away with murder" on pricing.
Now the FDA's new commissioner, Trump appointee Scott Gottlieb, M.D., is embarking on a series of initiatives aimed directly at bringing down rising drug prices. In a blog post yesterday, Gottlieb outlined the first policies to be implemented under the Drug Competition Action Plan, which are aimed
specifically at "complex generic drugs." Those are medicines that are complicated for generics manufacturers to make because they are protein-based or, like EpiPen, they require intricate delivery technologies such as auto-injectors.
Promising Ebola vaccines from Merck, Johnson & Johnson win BARDA funding
October 2, 2017 -
Fierce Pharma
Even though the devastating Ebola outbreak in West Africa has ended, U.S. officials and top pharmas aren't letting up on their vaccine development efforts against the virus. Now, the U.S. government is committing millions of dollars in support for leading vaccine programs at Merck & Co. and Johnson & Johnson.
BARDA, a unit of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, pledged $44 million to support a Janssen vaccine and $39 million for a Merck vaccine, the agency announced Friday. The money will help with late-stage development and potential licensure and purchasing of the vaccines for stockpiling. Merck's shot is a single-dose regimen while the vaccine from J&J's Janssen drug unit is a two-dose option.
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UPCOMING EVENTS
An Overview of Events Hosted or Attended by the Bourne Partners Team
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36th Annual J.P.Morgan Healthcare Conference
January 8-11, 2018 | San Francisco, CA
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As an international, healthcare-focused merchant bank and financial advisory firm, we provide world-class services and capital to middle-market healthcare companies around the globe. We aim to keep our clients well-informed of healthcare news and events. With this additional insight in mind, together, we can recognize trends and opportunities that benefit our clients. We hope that you will reach out to Bourne Partners to help execute your healthcare operational and transactional needs. To learn more about our firm, visit our website or utilize the links below to engage with us on social media.
Sincerely,
The Bourne Partners Team
Bourne Partners
550 South Caldwell Street
Suite 900
Charlotte, NC 28202
704-552-8407
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STAY CONNECTED
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