Samsung Group is in talks to buy Biogen in a deal that could be worth $42 billion, the Korea Economic Daily reported Wednesday, citing investment banking sources.
If the reports are true—and if negotiations succeed—Samsung would take control of Biogen at a time when the biotech is laboring to launch its controversial Alzheimer’s drug, Aduhelm, and suffering from declining revenues as generics eat away sales of its flagship multiple sclerosis drug, Tecfidera.
Reports of the potential buyout sent Biogen shares soaring Wednesday afternoon, from $235 per share up to $262.40 at press time. That’s still far below what the stock was worth back in June, just after Aduhelm’s approval, when it was trading above $400 per share.
For Samsung, the deal would be a big step forward in the biopharma world. Already a fast-growing contract manufacturer and a biosimilars maker, Samsung would gain a foothold in new drug development.
In an interview with Fierce Pharma last month, Samsung Biologics CEO John Rim said the company would be angling to grow beyond its home country’s borders to better serve global customers—with both M&A and new construction in the cards.
Meanwhile, Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Biogen is reportedly gearing up for layoffs as part of a $500 million cost-cutting drive. It’s also slashing Aduhelm’s price in half as of January 1, 2022, in a bid to jump-start the sluggish rollout.
Biogen’s woes have served to drag shares back down to pre-Aduhelm levels, when investors and analysts worried about the company’s future sources of revenue. Aduhelm appeared to be a long shot for approval, analysts figured, and patent losses and competition were rapidly draining the air out of its key multiple sclerosis franchise.
Samsung is no stranger to Biogen: The two companies have a biosimilars-focused joint venture, Samsung Bioepis, that sells its own versions of top biologic drugs including Amgen’s Enbrel and Johnson & Johnson’s Remicade. Its version of AbbVie’s megablockbuster Humira has been approved by the FDA and is cleared for launch in June 2023.
Back in June, the South Korean company said it planned to plow $205 billion into its growth businesses—including biopharma—through 2023. It already has a so-called “Super Plant” on the way in Incheon, South Korea, which will be as large as its other three plants in the city, combined.
“It’s more when not if,” Rim told Fierce Pharma of Samsung Biologics’ expansion into the U.S. “We’re continuing to look at when is the opportune time to make an investment in the United States and make an investment in Europe as well.”
