Biogen Idec Inc., which failed to drum up a buyer late last year after investor Carl Icahn prodded it to explore a sale, is rumored to be eying an acquisition of its own -- and Icahn isn't happy about it.
Icahn made more moves Monday against Biogen. He has nominated three allies to the Biogen board and, citing The Times of London's Genmab A/S rumor, said in a proxy statement he reserved the right to oppose any "toxic" transactions that would make the firm "unattractive to, or [reduce] the number of, future potential buyers."
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The Times of London says Danish-American firm Genmab has caught Biogen Idec's attention. Like Biogen, Genmab specializes in monoclonal antibodies, a bioengineered protein that has become the basis for some of the decade's most successful drugs, including Biogen's own rituximab, which started as a non-Hodgkins' lymphoma fighter and has expanded to treat rheumatoid arthritis. It just happens that Genmab's lead drug candidate ofatumumab, or HuMax-CD20, works the same way as rituximab: It blocks the CD20 molecule on the surface of the immune system's B cells, killing the cells. (B-cells run amok are suspected of playing a role in several autoimmune disorders.)
In fact, Genmab and its development partner GlaxoSmithKline plc are testing HuMax-CD20 for similar indications in patients who haven't responded well to rituximab treatment. Glaxo bought 10% of Genmab and the rights to HuMax-CD20 in December 2006 for $460 million. So even if Biogen can convince Icahn of the merits of this deal, Glaxo represents another hurtle to jump. - Alex Lash
See rumor item from The Times of London
See Icahn's letter to Biogen Idec from the SEC Edgar
See story about Biogen's pulled auction from TheDeal.com
See story about Glaxo stake purchase from TheDeal.com
See Dealwatch: Carl Icahn
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