Investors bet Pfizer's making a play for Mylan

Has Pfizer turned its sights from Ratiopharm to Mylan? The company reportedly made quite a push for the German generics maker, and now that it's lost that fight to Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, analysts are thinking that U.S.-based Mylan could do just as well.

Investors have been bidding up Mylan options in recent days, betting that Pfizer will satisfy its generics urges with an offer for the company. Indeed, more than 32,000 calls changed hands last week, 15 times the four-week average; the stock itself rose as high as $24.

"What we've heard is there's chatter about a potential takeover, but that's every day with some of these healthcare companies," Les Funtleyder, Miller Tabak analyst, tells Bloomberg. "[T]he thinking is that Pfizer may be interested in another generic company because [it was] one of the bidders [for Ratiopharm]."

But, as BNet Pharma points out, Mylan wouldn't necessarily be a trouble-free way for Pfizer to beef up its generics presence. The company has had its share of trouble over the last 12 months, including a public battle with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the sudden departure of its CFO, and a controversy over President Heather Bresch's academic credentials.

- see the Bloomberg story
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- read the Portfolio article