More takeover targets for Big Pharma

Industry watchers can't resist identifying takeover targets for Big Pharma. This week, the Motley Fool's radar is picking up Sepracor--which announced layoffs yesterday [1] after a few tough quarters. Though its stock jumped on the restructuring news, it's still way off a 52-week high, so its market cap is in the doable range. And the sleep aid Lunesta is patent-protected through 2012, which could help a patent-losing pharma get through a few tough years. Likely buyers? Sepracor partners GlaxoSmithKline [2] and Schering-Plough [3].

Then there's Onyx Pharmaceuticals and its cancer drug Nexavar. Onyx has been trying to broaden the indications for the drug [4], hence it's spending lots of cash on expensive trials. It's likely to get approvals for use against liver cancer later this year--and perhaps more after that. Marketing partner Bayer [4] is an obvious suitor.

Last but not least: Shire Pharmaceuticals [5], which is developing a nice specialty in attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. Its market cap tops $13 billion, so only the biggest of the big could step up for a buyout. And it might just become the buyer itself...maybe by snapping up another ADHD-focused company, Noven Pharmaceuticals [6].

- read the Motley Fool report [7]

Related Articles:
Who's next on the biotech buyout hit list? Report [8]
Should Pharma take the M&A cure? Report [9]
M&A is the future for Big Pharma. Report [10]
Onyx CEO to retire. Report [11]