Allergan plc and Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) has both been showing their respective interests in acquiring Biogen Inc (NASDAQ:BIIB) for months now. However, all talks are still at preliminary stages and informal in nature.
Why Biogen is Attracting Pharmaceutical Giants
Huge pharmaceutical companies such as Allergan and Merck have matured in the industry, at least as far as their respective product pipelines are concerned. Consequently, there is a growing need for new business strategies that will post significant long-term growth. Adding new products in their respective mature portfolios is no longer enough to sustain substantial growth prospects, especially now that branded drugs are facing pricing dilemmas in an industry nearly dominated by generics sales.
Biogen, meanwhile, has a rich pipeline of multiple-sclerosis treatments. Since the launch of Tecfidera in 2013, the company’s stock has already rose twice as much its value back then.
Biogen Q2 Financial Highlights
Biogen has released its earnings report for the second quarter late last month, posting a 12% year-over-year increase in revenue to $2.89 billion from $2.59 billion. Sequentially, this marks a 6% jump from the previous quarter’s revenue of $2.59 billion.
The Products segment had a year-over-year increase of 12% and a sequential increase of 7% to $2.47 billion from $2.20 billion and $2.31 billion, respectively. This segment primarily includes the sales of Biogen’s multiple sclerosis drugs and hemophilia drugs. The Anti-CD20 business also rose 3% year-over-year and 6% sequentially to $349 million from $338 million and $329 million, respectively. Lastly, the company’s Others segment jumped 42% year-over-year to $79 million from $56 million. However, this shows a sequential decline of 10% from $88 million.
For the full-year 2016, Biogen is expecting a revenue of between $11.20 billion and $11.40 billion, a testament to its continuous growth.
Search for New CEO
Biogen has also revealed in July that George Scangos, Biogen CEO, will be stepping down from his post as soon as the company finds a potential successor, ending his six-year stint at the helm.
