Karuna jumps on $14 bln buyout by Bristol Myers in last minute Christmas shopping

Karuna Therapeutics

22/12/2023 16:17

(Updates)
    ** Shares of Karuna Therapeutics  KRTX.O  rise 47% to $316.3
    ** Bristol Myers Squib  BMY.N  agrees to buy KRTX for $14
billion in cash, gaining a promising experimental schizophrenia
drug
    ** BMY shares up 2.6% to $52.6 - among top pct gainers on
S&P 500 Healthcare index  .SPXHC 
    ** BMY will pay $330 a share in cash for KRTX,  which
represents a 53.4% premium to its last closing price 
     ** Analysts have forecast multi-billion dollars in sales of
the schizophrenia drug, KarXT
    ** BMY is expected to face revenue losses for two of its
other top sellers, cancer immunotherapy Opdivo and blood thinner
Eliquis, as they lose patent protection later this decade
        
  
     ** While there are several drugs for schizophrenia, KarXT
belongs to a new class of drug that are likely to cause lesser
side effects like weight gain
    ** The deal is "fairly valued in our view and can’t rule out
another potential bidder, given this is first-in-class in an
area that has not seen a new mechanism approval in decades,"
said William Blair analyst Myles Minter
    ** Including session's gain, KRTX shares up ~61% and BMY
down ~26% YTD  

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Bristol-Myers' blockbuster drugs see steady decline    https://tmsnrt.rs/3NBWsmh
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 (Reporting by Mariam Sunny and Khushi Mandowara in Bengaluru)
 ((Mariam.ESunny@thomsonreuters.com;))