Did Inside Connections Influence Glaxo's Bid For Reliant?

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is reported to be gazing amorously at privately held Reliant Pharmaceuticals, Inc., which owns the rights to the triglycerides-lowering block-buster drug Lozava. In terms of the companies’ balance-sheets, though, the really important thing to know is that the biotechnology company Alkermes (ALKS) will receive $174 million for selling its share of Reliant to Glaxo. Alkermes needs the cash in order to implement its stock-buyback initiative (see the article on The Street.com by Elizabeth Trotta).

NewsVisual created an IntellectSpace Knowledge Map in order to find out whether there are any connections between Glaxo and Alkermes among their Board of Directors and Senior Executives.

In terms of once-removed connections, the Knowledge Map clearly demonstrates the following:

If there is a connection between Glaxo and Alkermes, its most viable path would be through Map Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (MAPP) Map’s current Chief Medical Officer, Stephen B. Shrewsbury, served at Glaxo as a Director and Senior Clinical Program Manager from 1993 to 2002. Shrewsbury would undoubtedly know current Map Director Gerri Henwood, who also serves as a current Director for Alkermes.

On the other hand, we can draw the following conclusions from the Knowledge Map regarding the remaining one-removed connections:

The Bristol-Myers (BMY) connection shows that its current Executive Vice President/CFO Andrew Bonfield joined the company in September 2002, and thus is unlikely to know Alkermes Director Alexander Rich, who served much earlier as a Bristol-Myers Director in 1989. Likewise, Chief Scientific Officer James Palmer joined Bristol-Myers in 2002, which would make a connection with Rich improbable. The Knowledge Map makes clear that although Glaxo and Alkermes are linked through Bristol-Myers, the connections may not be strong enough to have held a large degree of influence in this deal.

The same holds true for Immunogen, Inc. (IMGN) Mark Skaletsky serves as a Director on Immunogen board. Significantly, he joined its board in May 16 2007, which is on the same day that former Immunogen Director Howard H. Pien resigned from the company’s board. The two may be acquainted as a result, though it would be difficult to make any conclusions as to the extent of their relationship based on the interchange at Immunogen.

(Note: the information contained and presented in Knowledge Maps is public information from the Securities and Exchange Commission of the United States of America).

Click here for an interactive version of this IntellectSpace Knowledge Map.

Comments

[Mr. Finance]

I love it. Goes straigt to my RSS Feed!!!