Medical tech firm Danaher to buy Abcam in deal valued at $5.7 billion

Danaher Corp said on Monday it would buy smaller rival Abcam Plc in a deal valued at $5.7 billion including debt, as the medical tools supplier eyes bigger contracts by expanding its services.

The deal will help Danaher bulk up in the face of a funding crunch among small-sized biotech companies that has dented demand for its products used to develop treatments and vaccines.

The company, one of the world's largest suppliers of medical tools, in July cut its annual sales growth forecast for a second straight quarter, weighed down by the funding crunch in the drug development market.

Danaher, which has a market value of nearly $190 billion, has turned to dealmaking in recent years. It acquired General Electric Co's biopharma solution business for $21.4 billion in 2019 and contract development and manufacturing organization Aldevron for $9.6 billion in 2021.

Danaher will pay $24 per share in cash, a 2.7% premium to Abcam's last closing price. Abcam's shares were down about 4% in premarket trading at $22.44.

Abcam's shares rose 17% in mid-June after Bloomberg reported that the company was fielding takeover interest. They closed up 3.9% on Friday after Reuters reported that Danaher was in the lead to acquire the company.

Cambridge, England-based Abcam has come under pressure from activist shareholders to sell itself, including its founder Jonathan Milner who owns 6.1% of the company, as well as hedge fund Starboard Value LP.

https://news.yahoo.com/medical-tech-firm-danaher-buy-113714372.html

3M Shares Jump As Litigation Payout On Defective Military Earplugs Viewed Favorably By Analysts

 3M shares gained in premarket trading in New York after Bloomberg reported the company "tentatively agreed" to pay $5.5 billion to settle the largest mass tort in US history, with 300,000 lawsuits by veterans that claim earplugs made for combat failed to protect them from hearing loss. 

Under the discussed terms, people familiar with the settlement said 3M would pay $5.5 billion, resolving the massive lawsuit overhang, which is half of the $10 billion some Wall Street analysts predicted. Shares are up 6% because of this. 

"Sounds like 3M negotiated a pretty good deal for itself, given this litigation has been weighing on them for the better part of a decade," Carl Tobias, a University of Richmond law professor who teaches about product liability cases, told Bloomberg. 

Bloomberg Intelligence projected the possibility that 3M would have had to pay out around $9.5 billion, whereas Barclays analysts estimated $8 billion. 

Commentary from Wall Street analysts was favorable regarding the smaller settlement (list provided via Bloomberg): 

Citi (Neutral, PT $111) 

• The potential settlement is smaller than some investors expected, analyst Andrew Kaplowitz writes in a note; could mark another step in 3M alleviating its legal burden and moving away from litigation noise that has been weighing on the valuation and could be received favorably by investors
• Notes 3M still faces uncertainty regarding its per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances related exposure

RBC (Underperform, PT $100)

• News of any settlement is typically initially seen as good news, since it represents some tangible progress toward resolving what is still expected to be a long litigation road ahead for 3M along multiple fronts, writes analyst Deane Dray
• Positive stock reaction is due to a combination of slightly lower than expected settlement figure and a positive reaction associated with the potential alleviation of one of its two legal headwinds

Bloomberg Intelligence (No rating) 

• Analysts including Joel Levington say, "3 M's $5.5 billion agreement to resolve 300,000 lawsuits over military earplugs, as reported by Bloomberg News, may not stop the A2/A- rated company's ratings from being downgraded further"

Bloomberg noted, "3 M's board still must sign off on the deal." And comes as the company faces thousands of other lawsuits over PFAS "forever chemicals." 

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/3m-shares-jump-litigation-payout-defective-military-earplugs-viewed-favorably-analysts

Post-pandemic, world facing gloomy stew of debt, trade wars and poor productivity

 Record levels of government debt, geopolitical tensions that threaten to split the global trading system, and the likely persistence of weak productivity gains may saddle the world with a slow-growth future that stunts development in some countries even before it starts.

That sobering view of a post-pandemic global economy emerged from research organized by the Kansas City Federal Reserve and debated here this past weekend. It explored issues like the outlook for technological innovation, public debt, and the state of international trade at a time when the Russian invasion of Ukraine and conflict between the U.S. and China have eroded a once-broad global agreement, at least in theory, to boost the free flow of goods and services.

"Countries are now in a more fragile environment. They've used a lot of their fiscal resources to deal with a pandemic...Then you have policy-driven forces, geoeconomic fragmentation, trade tensions, the decoupling between the West and China," International Monetary Fund chief economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas said in an interview on the sidelines of an annual Fed conference here. "If we get to a point where part of the world is stuck without catching up and has large amounts of population, that creates tremendous demographic pressures and migration pressures."

Gourinchas said it is possible that global growth settles into a trend of around 3% annually, a figure far below rates above 4% seen when rapid advances in China's economy drove global output higher and which some economists consider borderline recessionary in a world where quick gains should still be achievable in large, less-developed countries.

But in the emerging pandemic economy, "the global growth environment has become very challenging," said Maurice Obstfeld, a former IMF chief economist and now a fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/post-pandemic-world-facing-gloomy-101724227.html

Novocure's cancer therapy fails to meet main goal in late-stage trial

 Novocure said on Monday its therapy failed in a late-stage trial to meet the main goal of improving survival rates in patients with a type of ovarian cancer. Novocure's therapy, which is used with certain chemotherapies and immunotherapies, creates electric fields that exert physical forces to kill cancer cells.

The combination therapy showed an overall survival rate of 12.2 months compared to 11.9 months in patients who were treated only with paclitaxel - the chemotherapy it was combined with.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/1-novocures-cancer-therapy-fails-112703824.html

Akebia upped to Buy from Neutral by Wainwright

 Target $3.75

https://finviz.com/quote.ashx?t=AKBA&p=d

Thorne to be Acquired by L Catterton for $10.20 Per Share in Cash

 L Catterton to Commence a Tender Offer for all of Thorne's Outstanding Shares of Common Stock

Thorne Stockholders to Receive $10.20 per Share in Cash, Representing a 94% Premium to the Unaffected Price

Independent Special Committee and Thorne Board of Directors Unanimously Approve Transaction and Recommend that All Stockholders Tender Their Shares in the Tender Offer

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/thorne-healthtech-inc-enters-definitive-120000294.html

Amgen Presents Late-Breaking Phase 2 Olpasiran Data at ESC 2023

 

• Amgen is Changing the Cardiovascular Disease Treatment Landscape With New Research on Innovative Lipid Management
• New Olpasiran Phase 2 Data Demonstrates Continued Reduction of Lp(a) Nearly a Year After the Last Dose
• Amgen Convenes First LDL Awareness to Action Implementation Consortium

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) today announced data from the final analysis of the Phase 2 OCEAN(a)-DOSE study of olpasiran, a small interfering RNA (siRNA) during the Late-Breaking Science Session at the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Annual Meeting being held in Amsterdam. In the off-treatment extension period, olpasiran showed a lasting effect on Lp(a) reduction nearly a year after the last dose.

Results from the OCEAN(a)-DOSE Phase 2 study announced in November of 2022 showed that doses of olpasiran ≥75 mg Q12W reduced patients' Lp(a) by >95% at week 36. The results from the off-treatment extension period show that patients previously dosed with ≥75 mg of olpasiran sustained a ~40-50% placebo-adjusted percent reduction in Lp(a) nearly a year after the last dose. No new safety concerns were identified during the off-treatment extension period.

"We are dedicated to reducing LDL cholesterol levels in people globally and continuing to pioneer ways to address the greatest risk factors in cardiovascular disease, including Lp(a). Worldwide, millions of people are at an increased risk of cardiovascular events due to elevated Lp(a) levels. Unfortunately, there are no approved medicines," said Paul Burton, senior vice president and chief medical officer at Amgen. "Data from the off-treatment extension period provide additional evidence of olpasiran's lasting effect in reducing Lp(a) levels. We are quickly advancing the Phase 3 cardiovascular outcome trial."

Additionally, this study was the first to explore the effects of olpasiran on a key biomarker strongly associated with atherosclerosis, pro-atherogenic OxPL-apoB [Oxidized Phospholipids (Ox-PL) on apoB-100 (apoB)]. During the treatment period, olpasiran showed a dose-dependent reduction in pro-atherogenic OxPL-apoB.

"Additional results from the OCEAN(a)-DOSE study continue to be encouraging, as they tell us olpasiran not only robustly reduces Lp(a) levels, but that it has a long-lasting effect on this important risk factor for ASCVD," said Michelle L. O'Donoghue, MD, MPH, associate professor, Harvard Medical School, Cardiovascular Medicine and lead investigator of the OCEAN(a)-DOSE study. "Additionally, we were able to show that olpasiran reduced OxPL-apoB, further adding to the potential of RNA interference with olpasiran as a promising treatment approach to reducing elevated Lp(a)."

LDL Awareness to Action Implementation Consortium

Amgen is committed to working with stakeholders to achieve the goal of reducing cardiovascular disease globally and, this year at ESC, convened a new LDL Awareness to Action Implementation Consortium (LATAIC). LATAIC is focused on improving LDL-C testing and evidence-based treatment through identification of opportunities to accelerate efficiency and impact of the translation of evidence-based research into clinical practice. The consortium is comprised of leading CV institutions, including Duke, Harvard's BAIM Institute, Johns Hopkins, Geisinger, University of Colorado, St. Luke's, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Providence, Yale and UT Southwestern.

https://www.biospace.com/article/releases/amgen-presents-late-breaking-phase-2-olpasiran-data-at-esc-2023/