Takeda, Japan’s largest pharmaceutical company by sales, has announced that it’s considering a possible takeover deal for Shire, a biopharma focused on rare diseases.
The news sparked a 25% surge in Shire’s shares during yesterday morning’s trading however according to Takeda, the consideration of such an offer is at a ‘preliminary’ and exploratory’ stage, with no actual approach made to the board of Shire.
In a press release announced earlier today, Takeda said a “potential transaction with Shire presents an opportunity to strengthen the company’s core therapeutic areas of oncology, gastrointestinal and neuroscience”.
It also added that the deal could build on Takeda’s “current strong momentum”, and could create a “truly global, value-based Japanese biopharmaceutical leader”.
Takeda, which has until 25 April to make a formal offer, isn’t the only company that has seen potential with Shire, as it was recently tipped as the next big pharma takeover after AbbVie’s failed takeover bid in 2014.
That particular deal, which saw AbbVie offer $55bn for the biopharma, came to a halt after the US introduced new measures to discourage tax inversion deals.