Sanofi SA (NYSE:SNY) has proposed a list of new board members to replace the current executives at Medivation Inc (NASDAQ:MDVN). The French pharma giant named eight candidates to replace the California drug maker’s entire board. Sanofi noted that it had no choice but to push on with this decision following Medivation’s continued rejection of Sanofi’s $9.3 billion offer.
Sanofi has been pursuing Medivation for months now with an aim of adding the California drugmaker’s prostate cancer drug Xtandi to its portfolio that currently needs a boost. So far, Sanofi has only received the cold shoulder with the Medivation Board noting that the $52.50 per share offer substantially undervalues them. This has forced Sanofi’s latest move of taking advantage of a so-called written consent rule that gives Medivation shareholders the ability to act any time to replace directors.
In the meantime, other potential suitors have begun lining up, and some have received a welcome reception. Earlier this month it was reported that Medivation had opened its book to potential buyers including Amgen, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) and Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE). Sanofi was not happy about this with its CEO Olivier Brandicourt noting that if that was accurate, they could not understand why Medivation had done so without informing them.
Sanofi had hoped that the negotiations would have been short, but that was not to be. Biotech heavyweights Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) and Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ:CELG) are now considering making their bids according to Bloomberg. They have joined a list of rumored suitors who also include Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) and AstraZeneca plc (NYSE:AZN). Despite the long list, no company is close to tabling an offer according to Medivation.
Sanofi’s board nominees include David Wilson, Ronald Rolfe, Charles Slacik, Barbara Deptula, James Tyree, Wendy Lane, Steven Shulman, Michael Campbell. All of them boast experience in pharma, law and finance and the company see them open to supporting the best interest of Medivation shareholder.
