Bayer injects $25 million cash into biotech venture capital fund

The venture capital company, Versant Ventures, has now surpassed its $300 million funding goal thanks to Bayer.

By Nicole Gray • Nov. 4, 2014

Allergan-Valeant standoff rages on as Allergan loses in court

A judge refuses to issue an injunction against Valeant in response to Allergan's claim that the company violated securities laws. Now, Valeant is free to vote its shares and Allergan is weighing its options.

By Nicole Gray • Nov. 4, 2014

Could the Sanofi CEO's firing doom a $150 million inhaled insulin deal?

Viehbacher's boot could spell trouble for the partnership despite MannKind's assurances, according to one analyst.

By Sy Mukherjee • Nov. 4, 2014

Diagnostics giant LabCorp buys CRO Covance for $6.1 billion

LabCorp has been aggressively diversifying and consolidating its service offerings, and the Covance acquisition brings it into the clinical trial services arena.

By Nicole Gray • Nov. 4, 2014

Abbott acquires heart-mapping company Topera for $250 million

With its acquisition of CA-based Topera, Abbott isn't just adding to its large diagnostics franchise. It's entering the $3 billion global market for catheter-based electrophysiology. 

By Nicole Gray • Oct. 31, 2014

Sacked Sanofi chief's golden parachute more like a bronze parachute

The former CEO of Sanofi, Chris Viehbacher, should be eligible for a $7.8 million exit fee—assuming that Sanofi achieved certain performance goals during the last three years.

By Nicole Gray • Oct. 31, 2014

With Viehbacher gone, who will be the next Sanofi chief?

Every team needs a leader, and Sanofi's board of directors knows that. The question is: who can offer the type of pharmaceutical company leadership—and communication style—the board wants?

By Nicole Gray • Oct. 30, 2014

Pfizer pulls the plug on pain deal with Pain Therapeutics

Investors felt the pain when Pfizer announced it won't be moving forward with an agreement to develop and commercialize an extended-release formulation of oxycodone.

By Nicole Gray • Oct. 28, 2014

Novartis sells off flu vaccines business to CSL for $275 million

This is it for Novartis and vaccines: After selling off most of its vaccines to GSK in April for $7.1 billion, the company has now sold the rest of its portfolio to Australia-based CSL for $275 million.

By Nicole Gray • Oct. 28, 2014

Roche to spend $3.2B on massive R&D cluster in Basel

The 10-year goal is to eventually move all Basel-based employees to this new mega-site.

By Nicole Gray • Oct. 28, 2014

Valeant poised to raise Allergan bid

The offer will provide "shareholder value" of at least $200/share, Valeant's CEO says in a letter riddled with tough talk.

By Randy Lilleston • Oct. 27, 2014

Actavis to cut more jobs, this time in New York

There are lay-offs scheduled for three facilities in New York as Actavis continued to integrate the recently-acquired Forest Labs into its business.

By Nicole Gray • Oct. 24, 2014

The $5.3B Mylan-Abbott inversion deal won't go the way of AbbVie-Shire

Mylan still plans to buy a portion of Abbott's overseas generics portfolio and relocate to the Netherlands. But some tweaks have been made to the deal—and it's unclear exactly why.

By Sy Mukherjee • Oct. 22, 2014

Actelion chief says it's time for pharma to ditch tax-inversion mergers

Actelion CEO Jean-Paul Clozel praises U.S. efforts to curb tax-inversions and says pharma companies should drop the gimmicks and pursue real value when cutting deals. 

By Sy Mukherjee • Oct. 21, 2014

AbbVie-Shire deal effectively dead in the water

The Obama administration's renewed push to curb tax-inversion mergers claims its first victim.

By Sy Mukherjee • Oct. 16, 2014

Report: 6 US Ranbaxy execs head for the exits before Sun Pharma merger

“The core team of Ranbaxy in the U.S., which was running the show so far, resigned in one go last week," according to a company source.

By Sy Mukherjee • Oct. 13, 2014

Endo to buy Auxilium at a premium for $2.6 billion

Endo’s upcoming purchase of Auxilium will strengthen its already formidable men’s health franchise—and has stoked investor’s enthusiasm for Auxilum shares, which were up 10% on the news.  

By Nicole Gray • Oct. 10, 2014

Here come the layoffs: Targacept-AstraZeneca R&D partnership nixed

After 10 years of focused R&D on an Alzheimer’s disease drug, Targacept and AstraZenenca have called it quits.

By Nicole Gray • Oct. 10, 2014

Novare Pharmaceuticals launches in Boston

The new biotech specializes in a type of tissue engineering that may have groundbreaking applications in treating inflammatory conditions and breast reconstruction.

By Nicole Gray • Oct. 8, 2014

Actavis shores up infectious disease franchise with Durata acquisition

With its $675 million buyout of Durata, Actavis is acquiring Dalvance (dalbavacin)—the very first FDA-designated qualified infection disease product (QIDP)—as part of the package. 

By Nicole Gray • Oct. 7, 2014

Baxter invests $45M in Rockwell Medical

The capital infusion will shore up Rockwell's hemodialysis concentrates division and allow the smaller company to focus on growth and expansion.

By Nicole Gray • Oct. 6, 2014

Optos to collaborate with UK government and universities

The $16-million collaboration is intended to develop cutting-edge optical imaging technology.

By Nicole Gray • Oct. 6, 2014

Bayer a top OTC player after $14.2B deal with Merck

Bayer’s OTC division is larger than J&J’s as of October 1 thanks to its $14.2 billion acquisition of Merck’s consumer care division.

By Nicole Gray • Oct. 2, 2014

Acquisition update: J&J buys Alios for $1.75 billion

Alios Biopharma brings a portfolio of potential treatments for viral infections, including a drug in development for the treatment of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).

By Nicole Gray • Oct. 1, 2014

Horizon hailed as 'world's leading gene-editing' company after acquiring Sage

Horizon is paying up to $48 million for Sage Labs, considered "a world leader in the generation of advanced in vivo transgenic disease models for use in preclinical research."

By Nicole Gray • Sept. 30, 2014