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Monday, December 2, 2019

Baxter to acquire Seprafilm from Sanofi for $350M

Baxter International (NYSE:BAX) has agreed to acquire Sanofi’s (NASDAQ:SNYSeprafilm Adhesion Barrier device and related assets for $350M in cash. The transaction should close no later than next quarter.
The assets should generate $100M in sales in the first year following the close.
SNY is down 1% premarket on light volume.

Premarket analyst action, Dec. 3

Bausch Health Companies (NYSE:BHC) initiated with Neutral rating and C$40 (7% upside) price target at Goldman Sachs. Shares up 2% premarket.
Centogene N.V. (NASDAQ:CNTG) initiated with Buy rating and $18 (38% upside) price target at BTIG Research. Initiated with Outperform rating and $17 target at Evercore ISI.
Galapagos N.V. (NASDAQ:GLPG) initiated with Neutral rating and €199 (11% upside) price target at BofA Merrill Lynch.
Galera Therapeutics (NASDAQ:GRTX) initiated with Buy rating and $15 (20% upside) price target at BofAML. Initiated with Buy rating and $20 target at Citigroup. Shares up 1% premarket.
Galmed Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:GLMD) initiated with Buy rating and $29 (544% upside) price target at Canaccord Genuity. Shares up 16% premarket.
GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE:GSK) initiated with Outperform rating and $53 (17% upside) price target at SVB Leerink. Shares down 1% premarket.
Intercept Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ICPT) initiated with Buy rating and $165 (52% upside) price target at Canaccord.
Revance Therapeutics (NASDAQ:RVNC) initiated with Buy rating and $25 (40% upside) price target at Goldman.
TherapeuticsMD (NASDAQ:TXMD) initiated with Buy rating and $5 (99% upside) price target at Guggenheim. Shares up 3% premarket.
Theratechnologies (NASDAQ:THTX) initiated with Buy rating and $12 (280% upside) price target at Canaccord.
Trulieve Cannabis (TRUL CN)(OTCPK:TCNNF) upgraded to Buy with a C$22.60 (33% upside) price target at Compass Point.
Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) downgraded to Underperform with a $250 (17% downside risk) price target at Baird.
Teladoc (NYSE:TDOC) downgraded to Hold with an $80 (4% downside risk) price target at SunTrust. Shares down 3% premarket.

GE holds Healthcare Investor Day

GE (NYSE:GE) investors can tune in to the latest news on the company’s health unit today, with many eyeing plans about how to increase sales, market share and profit margins.
Looking to pay down debt, CEO Larry Culp announced a $21.4B deal to sell the division’s BioPharma business shortly after he took up the reins of the conglomerate a little over a year ago.
While that leaves GE Healthcare without its fastest-growing businesses, Culp has deemed the unit central to the company’s turnaround efforts.
Listen to the webcast here starting at 9:30 a.m. ET
GE +0.5% premarket

Seattle Genetics, Astellas team up with Merck in first-line urothelial cancer

Seattle Genetics (NASDAQ:SGEN) and development partner Astellas Pharma (OTCPK:ALPMF) will collaborate with Merck (NYSE:MRK) on a Phase 3 clinical trial evaluating the combination of antibody-drug conjugate enfortumab vedotin and Keytruda (pembrolizumab) in treatment-naïve patients with metastatic urothelial cancer.
The study, funded by the three companies and led by SGEN, should be initiated in H1 2020.
Enfortumab vedotin is currently under FDA review for the treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer who have received a PD-1/L1 inhibitor and who have received platinum-containing chemo in the neoadjuvant/adjuvant, locally advanced or metastatic setting. The agency’s action date is March 15, 2020.

EMA accepts Amarin’s marketing application for icosapent ethyl

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has accepted for review Amarin’s (NASDAQ:AMRN) marketing application seeking approval for icosapent ethyl (brand name Vascepa in the U.S.) as a treatment to reduce the risk of cardiovascular events in high-risk patients who have their cholesterol levels controlled with statin treatment but have elevated triglycerides.
The EMA expects to complete the review procedure before the end of 2020.
Shares are up 2% premarket.

Walgreens buyout stalls as expected

The private equity buyout of Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) is reportedly in trouble as financing issue arise for KKR (NYSE:KKR) just as many analysts anticipated.
Speed bumps with leveraged buyouts are nothing new this year, according to The Wall Street Journal. Buyout activity in the U.S. is down sharply, despite PE firms sitting on a record amount of cash.
WBA -0.35% premarket to $59.60.

CVS to acquire Centene’s Illinois Medicaid/Medicare Advantage business

In connection with its merger with WellCare Health Plans (NYSE:WCG), Centene (NYSE:CNC) has agreed to divest its Medicaid and Medicare Advantage businesses in the state of Illinois to CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) for an undisclosed sum.
Centene will retain its IlliniCare Medicare-Medicaid Alignment Initiative business and IlliniCare’s statewide YouthCare foster care contract that will commence in February 2020. Its Ambetter business in the state will also be unaffected.