William Blair sees FTC suit on Amgen-Horizon deal weighing on biotech M&A sentiment

Prometheus Biosciences

16/05/2023 17:08

** Brokerage William Blair says "on a broader note, the FTC
filing a lawsuit to block this deal will dampen M&A enthusiasm
across the biotech sector" says 
    ** The U.S. Federal Trade Commission says it will sue to
stop Amgen Inc's  AMGN.O  $27.8 billion deal to buy Horizon
Therapeutics Plc  HZNP.O 
    ** William Blair analyst Matt Phipps notes that there no
portfolio overlap between Amgen and Horizon, and that the FTC
suit may dampen for deal talks in the sector
    ** While the brokerage continues to believe acquisitions of
biotech companies with a single product/asset will not face much
scrutiny outside of instances of portfolio overlap, it notes
that it needs additional clarity on the Amgen lawsuit
    ** Wells Fargo also says if FTC scrutiny is related to stop
bigger deals, it could make investors jittery around Pfizer Inc
PFE.N-SGEN deal
    ** Shares of biotech companies Seagen Inc  SGEN.O  fall 5.8%
to $188, Prometheus Biosciences Inc  RXDX.O  down 1.6% at
$191.3, HZNP down 15.3% 
    ** SPDR S&P Biotech ETF  XBI.P , a fund which generally
corresponds to the total return performance  the S&P
Biotechnology Select Industry Index, down 2.7%

 (Reporting by Nandhini Srinivasan in Bengaluru)
 ((nandhini.srinivasan@thomsonreuters.com))