Analysts are salivating over Bristol-Myers Squibb. Healthy earnings and sales growth, coupled with a stock price down by about a third since last July, makes the drugmaker "an attractive takeover candidate for a larger pharma," a Zacks Investment Research analyst wrote to investors, upgrading the stock to "buy" from "hold." A Standard & Poor's analyst concurs, saying BMS "could offer significant value in a merger with the right partner."
And just which Big Pharma might that partner be? Zacks mentioned Pfizer and Sanofi-Aventis [1], which have worked with Bristol on some products. Plavix, for instance, is a joint promo with Sanofi, and the anti-clotting drug is growing fast; plus, the med may also help cut risk of heart attack or stroke in atherosclerosis patients. But Plavix's patent expires in 2011--and that's where Pfizer speculation comes in [2]. It's Bristol's development partner on Apixaban, another anti-clotting product.
- read the story [3] in Business Week
Related Articles:
Patent victory reignites rumors of BMS takeover. Report [1]
Rumor Mill: Is BMS going on the sales block? Report [4]
Analysts buzzing about possible Bristol-Myers sale. Report [5]
Links:
[1] http://www.fiercebiotech.com/story/patent-victory-reignites-rumors-of-bms-takeover/2007-06-20
[2] http://www.fiercebiotech.com/story/pfizer-partners-with-bms-in-1b-deal/2007-04-26
[3] http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_14/c4078insidewal788562.htm?chan=magazine+channel_opinion
[4] http://www.fiercebiotech.com/story/rumor-mill-is-bms-going-on-the-sales-block/2006-09-13
[5] http://www.fiercebiotech.com/story/analysts-buzzing-about-possible-bristol-myers-sale/2006-08-21