Cubist Battling Superbugs Offers Remedy for J&J: Real M&A
By Jennifer Surane
August 18, 2014 4:50 PM EDT
1
The timing may be right for a takeover of Cubist Pharmaceuticals Inc. (CBST)
The rising threat from drug-resistant germs and increasing calls from global health groups for more potent antibiotics is placing a premium on companies such as Cubist. The $4.8 billion drug developer is preparing to introduce four new medicines by 2020 to combat bacterial infections that have become resistant to older therapies because of decades of overuse.
Cubist may receive takeover offers based on the prospects for those remedies and could get sold for about 50 percent more than its current price, Cowen Group Inc. said. It already has one blockbuster drug on the market, and analysts estimate its revenue will double to almost $2 billion by 2018. Pfizer Inc. (PFE) could fold Cubist’s antibiotics sales force into its acute-care division, while new legislative efforts to revive the antibiotic market also could draw Eli Lilly & Co. or Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) to the bidding table, according to Robert W. Baird & Co.
By Jennifer Surane
August 18, 2014 4:50 PM EDT
1
The timing may be right for a takeover of Cubist Pharmaceuticals Inc. (CBST)
The rising threat from drug-resistant germs and increasing calls from global health groups for more potent antibiotics is placing a premium on companies such as Cubist. The $4.8 billion drug developer is preparing to introduce four new medicines by 2020 to combat bacterial infections that have become resistant to older therapies because of decades of overuse.
Cubist may receive takeover offers based on the prospects for those remedies and could get sold for about 50 percent more than its current price, Cowen Group Inc. said. It already has one blockbuster drug on the market, and analysts estimate its revenue will double to almost $2 billion by 2018. Pfizer Inc. (PFE) could fold Cubist’s antibiotics sales force into its acute-care division, while new legislative efforts to revive the antibiotic market also could draw Eli Lilly & Co. or Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) to the bidding table, according to Robert W. Baird & Co.