Market Currents

• Today - Monday, December 21, 2009

• 07:28 AM Sanofi-aventis (SNY) to acquire consumer healthcare firm Chattem (CHTT) for $1.9B, or $93.50/share in cash - a 34% premium to Friday's close. Comment!

• Wednesday, November 11, 2009

• 09:42 AM Sanofi-Aventis (SNY +0.1%) increases its 2007 biotech deal with Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (REGN +15.1%), boosting its payment for R&D to $160M/year from $100M, and extending the pact by five years, through 2017. REGN chief Dr. Leonard S. Schleifer says the deal is a model of how Big Pharma can collaborate with biotech without suffocating it: "They leave Regeneron and its culture to do its thing." (PR) Comment!

• Monday, November 2, 2009

• 11:14 AM Supreme Court rejects Apotex's challenge to Plavix's patent, without comment. Plavix, an anti-clotting drug with yearly sales of more than $6B, was developed by Sanofi-Aventis (SNY -0.05%) and is co-marketed by Bristol-Myers (BMY +0.7%). 1 Comment

• Friday, October 23, 2009

• 13:13 PM Vaccine makers GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), Sanofi-Aventis (SNY) and AstraZeneca (AZN) report earnings next week, and all expect a lift from H1N1 vaccines and flu drugs along with other healthcare firms. Even so, production delays and a regulatory problem are straining U.S. vaccine supplies. 1 Comment

• Friday, October 16, 2009

• 09:00 AM Premarket gainers: TRGT +23%. SPPI +7%. FAZ +6%.
  Losers: MTG -14%. MEA -7%. AMD -6%. FAS -6%. BAC -6%. SHO -5%. AIB -5%. CIT -5%. ING -4%. PMI -5%. IBM -5%. SNY -4%. AEG -4%. MT -4%. GNW -4%. SYMC -4%. Comment!

• Sunday, August 30, 2009

• 17:45 PM AstraZeneca's (AZN) experimental anticlotting heart drug Brilinta outperforms $8.6B seller Plavix (SNY, BMY) by 16% in a Phase III study released this weekend, while remarkably showing no increase in bleeding complications. Effient, a new contender from Eli Lilly (LLY), also outdid Plavix, but at the price of increased bleeding risk. 1 Comment

• Tuesday, August 18, 2009

• 11:25 AM U.S. Patent Office orders a re-examination of the patent for blockbuster anti-clotting drug Plavix - co-marketed by Sanofi-aventis (SNY -0.25%) and Bristol-Myers (BMY -0.05%) - citing new questions about the drug's patentability. But the re-exam typically takes up to two years, and Plavix's patent expires in 2011. Comment!

• Friday, August 7, 2009

• 14:25 PM After earlier overwhelming approval by Merck (MRK +3.3%) shareholders, Schering-Plough's (SGP +2.7%) shareholders approve its acquisition by Merck by a similar 99%-plus margin. Next is regulatory clearance, likely aided by Merck's selling its stake in a joint venture to Sanofi-Aventis (SNY). Comment!

• Thursday, July 30, 2009

• 07:32 AM As expected, Sanofi-Aventis (SNY) agrees to buy Merck's (MRK) half of their Merial animal-health JV for $4B in cash. The deal should help Merck allay antitrust concerns over its proposed purchase of Schering-Plough (SGP). Comment!

• Wednesday, July 29, 2009

• 15:33 PM Merck (MRK -0.8%) gets closer to allaying antritrust concerns over its proposed purchase of Schering-Plough (SGP +0.7%), as WSJ reports that Merck is close to selling its half of joint venture Merial to Sanofi-Aventis (SNY). Merial makes medication for animals, and the Journal says Merck's stake is valued from $3B-5B. Comment!

• Wednesday, July 1, 2009

• 08:47 AM Sanofi-Aventis (SNY) will close 8 of its 27 R&D sites and look to build partnerships with outside biotech and academic labs. The move follows an industry trend of cutting costs by relying on outside labs to discover new drugs. Comment!

• Friday, June 26, 2009

• 09:00 AM Premarket gainers: PALM +11%. TIBX +7%. SPPI +5%.
  Losers: BPZ -8%. JAZZ -5%. AIB -5%. SNY -5%. UBS -4%. POT -4%. MOS -4%. Comment!

• Thursday, June 25, 2009

• 15:12 PM European regulators urge pulling the modern generic descendants of painkiller Darvon from the market after a number of fatal overdoses. One maker, Sanofi-Aventis (SNY -5.1%), has said it will stop selling it in Europe. Comment!
• 07:36 AM Sanofi-Aventis (SNY) is planning a major push into generic drugs and cutbacks in research spending as Plavix, one of its best-selling drugs, faces the loss of patent protection. Shares -1.5% premarket. Comment!

• Thursday, June 18, 2009

• 08:12 AM Sanofi-Aventis (SNY) pledges to donate 100M doses of swine flu vaccine to developing countries. Earlier this week, Novartis (NVS) refused to give vaccines away for free. Comment!

• Tuesday, June 16, 2009

• 09:49 AM Sanofi-Aventis (SNY +1.6%) may be on the prowl for a mega pharma deal. Obvious targets include Bristol-Myers (BMY) and Amgen (AMGN), but smaller fry like Allergan (AGN) and Biogen Idec (BIIB) would be easier for SNY to digest without impairing its investment-grade credit rating. Comment!