Aug. 12 Quick Takes: Seagen loses Daiichi Sankyo arbitration

Resolution of a lawsuit between Seagen Inc. (NASDAQ:SGEN) and Daiichi Sankyo Co. Ltd. (Tokyo:4568) could remove one of the last hurdles holding up the long-rumored acquisition of the U.S. antibody-drug conjugate company by Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE:MRK). The suit related to the parties’ 2008 collaboration agreement governing the use of Seagen’s ADC technology by Daiichi in Enhertu fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki and unnamed product candidates. Seagen contended that the linker and other ADC technology were improvements that it owned, but the arbitrator ruled in favor of Daiichi, citing statute of limitations and disagreement with Seagen on the interpretation of the contract. In an email to BioCentury, a Seagen spokesperson declined to say if the company planned to appeal the arbitrator’s ruling. Lawsuit aside, Seagen has a pipeline strategy that could deliver new commercial opportunity, regardless of whether its technology remains on top.

Illumina Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN) lost more than $3 billion in market cap Friday after announcing quarterly earnings that fell short of expectations and cutting full-year guidance. The genomic sequencing company now expects revenue growth of 4-5% and EPS of $2.75-$2.90 in 2022; it had been guiding for 14-16% and $4-$4.20. In 2Q22, Illumina had EPS of $0.57 on revenues of $1.16 billion; FactSet’s consensus estimates were $0.64 on $1.22 billion. Its shares were off 8% to $208.33 Friday...