Abbott may look to expand medical device business footprint
May 9, 2014 by Brad Perriello
Abbott may look to expand the geographic footprint of its medical device footprint and has no plans to shed its branded generic pharmaceuticals arm, CFO Thomas Freyman said yesterday.
Speaking at the annual Deutsche Bank Healthcare Conference in Boston yesterday, Freyman said the branded generics business is a key plank it its platform for emerging markets. Read more
Device makers take big writedowns on renal denervation
May 13, 2014 by Brad Perriello
Three of the 4 major players in the renal denervation market took big write-downs on their RDN assets after the surprise failure of Medtronic’s (NYSE:MDT) Symplicity-3 clinical trial.
Symplicity-3 was widely expected to be a slam dunk, vaulting Medtronic into 1st place in the U.S. renal denervation space. But the trial, more rigorously designed than previous trials with a sham control arm, failed to meet its primary efficacy endpoint. Read more
Cardinal Health closes $320M AccessClosure buy
May 12, 2014 by Brad Perriello
Cardinal Health said today that it closed its $320 million all-cash acquisition of AccessClosure and its Mynx extravascular closure technology.
The Mynx biodegradable sealant products are designed to close off the femoral artery and then dissolve within 30 days. Read more
K2M prices IPO under range at $132M
May 8, 2014 by Brad Perriello
K2M Group cut the price on its initial public offering to $15 per share, with trading in the stock slated to begin today on the NASDAQ exchange under the KTWO symbol.
K2M, billed as the largest privately held spinal device maker, originally proposed to release 8.8 million shares at $16-$18 apiece, which would have brought in $141.2 million to $158.9 million. The lowered price of today’s offering yielded $132 million. Read more
Allergan board spurns Valeant's $47B offer
May 12, 2014 by Brad Perriello
Allergan said its board voted unanimously to reject an unsolicited offer from Valeant Pharmaceuticals and Pershing Capital Management, the hedge fund run by activist investor William Ackman.
In a letter today to Valeant CEO Michael Pearson, Allergan chief David Pyott wrote that the $47 million bid “substantially undervalues Allergan, creates significant risks and uncertainties for the stockholders of Allergan, and is not in the best interests of the company and its stockholders.” Read more