Dec. 6 Company Quick Takes: Alexion rebuffs activist’s push for sale; plus UCB, Genmab, Enzyvant, Biohaven
Under activist pressure, Alexion decides against proactive sale process
Shares of Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ALXN) rose 6% Friday, boosting the company’s market cap by $1.4 billion, after the company said in a statement that its board has decided not to court a sale proactively. The choice followed consultations with activist investor Elliott Management, which had recommended pursuing a transaction. Alexion added that it has not received or rejected any inbound M&A proposals, and said it would be “highly unusual, if not unprecedented, for a biopharmaceutical company of our size and maturity” to seek a sale proactively. The company has taken several steps to refresh its pipeline since management changes in 2017 (see “Activist Pressing for Changes”; “Refilling the Cupboard”).
UCB to seek approval of bimekizumab for psoriasis
UCB S.A. (Euronext:UCB) plans to submit regulatory applications in mid-2020 for bimekizumab after the mAb against IL-17A and IL-17F met the co-primary endpoints in the Phase III BE SURE trial for moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis. It is the third Phase III success for the mAb since October. The primary endpoints assessed whether bimekizumab vs. Humira adalimumab led to a greater proportion of patients achieving a >= 90% improvement in PASI 90 and Investigator Global Assessment (IGA) responses of clear or almost clear (IGA 0/1)...