Medivation has broken its silence on Sanofi’s $9.3bn takeover bid, saying the offer is opportunistic and is trying to “seize value” from its stockholders.
The US company issued a blunt statement indicating Sanofi’s $52.50 per share bid “substantially undervalues Medivation”, with chief executive David Hung pointing out that it comes during a period of market disruption and before “several important near-term events” for his company.
“Medivation has significant scarcity value as one of the few profitable, commercial-stage oncology companies,” says the statement. “It has brought a blockbuster product to market and is leveraging its expertise to develop and bring to market additional products.”
Last week it emerged that Sanofi has been in hot pursuit of Medivation since March, with the latter’s refusal to engage with negotiations forcing the French pharma major to make its intentions public.
Sanofi is keen to get hold of Medivation for its fast-growing prostate cancer drug Xtandi (enzalutamide) – which made $1.9bn in sales last year and is growing at a phenomenal rate – as well as what is regarded as a promising oncology pipeline.
The offer has come ahead of the scheduled review date for Medivation’s application to expand the use of Xtandi into a larger population of prostate cancer patients and before pivotal data on its PARP inhibitor talazoparib emerges in the first half of 2017.
“Sanofi’s timing is designed to benefit Sanofi – not Medivation’s stockholders,” asserts the US firm.
In response to Medivation’s refusal, Sanofi issued its own short statement in which it reiterated that the takeover “represents a compelling strategic and financial opportunity to drive immediate and certain value” for the shareholders of both companies.
“Sanofi is a disciplined acquirer and has a strong acquisition track-record,” it added.
Meanwhile, there is increasing speculation among market watchers that other companies may be emboldened to step forward with their own offers for Medivation, with Bloomberg suggesting Novartis, Pfizer and AstraZeneca are all interested in making a bid.