Market Currents

• Thursday, December 10, 2009

• 09:50 AM Facet Biotech (FACT) says Biogen Idec's (BIIB) increased bid of $17.50/share is still too low, and not in shareholders' best interest. Facet notes other parties have also expressed interest in the company and its assets, and that it is allowing them, along with Biogen, to conduct due diligence. Comment!

• Thursday, December 3, 2009

• 17:26 PM Biogen Idec (BIIB) hikes its bid for Facet Biotech (FACT) to a "best and final offer" of $17.50 a share, a 21% increase from its unsolicited Sept. 4 offer, and a 98% premium to Facet's closing price then. [[FACT]] -2.8% AH, to $16.75. Comment!

• Friday, October 23, 2009

• 09:00 AM Premarket gainers: AMZN +18%. SYNA +13%. CIT +10%. MSFT +9%. COF +9%. BQI +6%. BUCY +5%. ALU +5%. FBCM +5%. RFMD +4%. CEO +4%.
  Losers: SPWRA -10%. ELN -10%. IBKR -9%. SNV -9%. BRCM -7%. BIIB -5%. AGU -4%. AIB -4%. Comment!

• Thursday, October 22, 2009

• 13:56 PM Why aren't you blogging, Carl Icahn? "I've been sort of busy. And right now, with the market up, there's not as much interest in corporate governance like there was a couple of months ago." Damien Park notes Carl's been among the most active of activists, seeking board seats at Enzon Pharmaceuticals (ENZN), Biogen (BIIB), Amylin (AMLN) and Lions Gate (LGF), and contuining to pester Yahoo (YHOO). 1 Comment

• Tuesday, October 20, 2009

• 08:22 AM Biogen Idec (BIIB): Q3 EPS of $1.12 beats by $0.08. Revenue of $1.12B (+2.8%) in-line. Shares -1.9% premarket. (PR) Comment!
• 00:05 AM Notable pre-market earnings: ALV, BK, BIIB, BLK, BTU, CAT, CMA, COH, DGX, DRH, DD, EAT, FRX, GAP, ITW, JEF, JRN, KO, LXK, LMT, MTB, PCP, PH, PFE, RF, SHW, STT, SVU, UAUA, UNH, UTX, WU Comment!

• Friday, October 16, 2009

• 16:37 PM Biogen Idec (BIIB) says it's extending its hostile $14.50/share offer for Facet Biotech (FACT) to Dec. 16, from an original expiration of Oct. 19. [[FACT]] closed +0.6%, at $18.03. Comment!

• Tuesday, September 15, 2009

• 07:49 AM Elan (ELN) drops the value of its $1.5B deal with Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) by $115M after a ruling earlier this month that the terms violated Elan and Biogen Idec's (BIIB) partnership over their MS drug Tysabri. The new terms eliminate a clause that would have allowed J&J to finance an Elan buyout of Biogen's stake. Comment!

• Sunday, September 13, 2009

• 16:02 PM Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) is attempting to knock at least $100M off the $1B in cash it agreed to pay Elan (ELN) in their $1.5B deal after a judge ruled part of the deal violated Elan's partnership with Biogen Idec (BIIB). The July deal gave J&J an 18.4% stake in Elan and access to its experimental Alzheimer's drugs. Comment!

• Tuesday, September 8, 2009

• 08:07 AM Facet Biotech (FACT) rejects Biogen Idec's (BIIB) $14.50/share bid, calling it inadequate. Says BIIB's decision to launch a bid for Facet within weeks of their joint decision to begin a Phase III trial for its daclizumab MS treatment "does not appear to be a coincidence." Comment!

• Friday, September 4, 2009

• 11:22 AM Facet Biotech (FACT -0.3%) shares halted at $8.79 as Biogen Idec (BIIB +0.9%) offers $14.50 a share for the company, valuing the deal at $346.6M. Comment!
• 07:57 AM A federal judge rules Elan's (ELN) recent deal with J&J (JNJ) violates its marketing partnership with Biogen Idec (BIIB) for multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri. Elan must alter its J&J deal by Sept. 26, or potentially lose all its rights to Tysabri. Comment!

• Friday, August 7, 2009

• 08:07 AM Elan (ELN) files suit against Biogen Idec (BIIB), its marketing partner for multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri. Elan wants a court to allow an investment by J&J (JNJ) that it says Biogen is trying to block. Biogen says the investment violates a profit-sharing contract with Elan. Comment!

• Monday, July 20, 2009

• 15:20 PM Biogen Idec (BIIB +1.8%) jumps after Deal Journal speculates a recent move by Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) to buy 18.4% of Elan (ELN) may be a precursor to a takeover bid for Biogen, which markets multiple-sclerosis drug Tysabri together with Elan. Comment!

• Thursday, July 16, 2009

• 09:00 AM Premarket gainers: BFRM +42%. MOS +11%. HGSI +7%. ING +6%. ELN +5%. BUCY +4%. ANPI +4%. SAY +4%. BIIB +4%. ESLR +4%. PCX +4%. SNDK +4%.
  Losers: NOK -12%. MTG -11%. SLT -10%. TRGT -8%. XLNX -6%. CELL -7%. RFMD -5%. MOT -5%. HOG -5%. AIG -4%. Comment!
• 07:50 AM Biogen Idec (BIIB): Q2 EPS of $0.75 beats by $0.07. Revenue of $1.1B (+10%) in-line. (PR) Comment!