What is the Mega Deal for the Switzerland means

It is the largest Acquisition in the pharmaceutical industry for almost 20 years. For a total of 90 billion dollars, the US group Brystol-Myers Squibb (BMS) has agreed to acquire the US biotech company Celgene. The consequences of this Mega-transfer from radiation to Switzerland.

for two reasons: For one, the Mega is likely to cost a Deal of BMS jobs in Switzerland. The Second is a new Large-scale was formed through the merger in an important business with anti-cancer drugs: Together, BMS and Celgene displace the group of rank two of the largest cancer treatment provider.

Strong presence in Switzerland

founded in 1986, Celgene is specializing in cancer drugs, as well as agents against inflammatory diseases and diseases of the immune system.The most important drug for the blood cancer drug Revlimid, which accounts for last with $ 8.2 billion, around 60 percent of group sales and is under threat from 2022 of generic drugs.

Celgene currently has in Switzerland at three locations 880 employees. About 100 other people. Celgene, in its new production facility in Couvet, NE deal with, which is to commence in this year With 800 employees in the international headquarters in Boudry is NE of the most important location. BMS in this country is only represented with a seat in Steinhausen ZG, in which 200 people work.

As with any Takeover is expected to decrease due to the merger costs. Overall, BMS hopes to achieve by the year 2022, savings of around 2.5 billion dollars. 55 percent to contribute of reductions in the management and the optimization of geographical presence.

what is the cost of Acquisition Jobs in Switzerland, is open. A spokeswoman for BMS said that currently there is still no information.

Not only the Swiss workforce, the local competitors, Novartis and Roche will continue to pursue the big takeover attention. With the merger, a world-leading company in the areas of cancer, immunology, inflammatory diseases, and cardiovascular diseases. Especially in the important the cancer business is a new, more potent competitors for Roche and Novartis.

According to Birgit Kulhoff, pharmaceutical expert of the private Bank Rahn+Bodmer, in particular, Novartis, the new competitor seriously. In cancer therapy, Novartis made last year headlines, because the company got the first approval for a new gene therapy. At Novartis, the treatment is Kymriah and to treat blood cancer. In this therapy, the patient T can be extracted from cells and quasi-reprogrammed so that the immune system attacks the body's cancer cells.

In the past year, Celgene, for around 9 billion dollars acquired the Start-up Juno Therapeutics, has also developed a gene therapy, but is not yet approved. "In connection with the BMS of a much larger machinery is now behind it, this new approach to the development and marketing of forward," says Kulhoff. Celgenes gene therapy is to come in this year on the market, "and could now be a stronger competitor to Novartis than initially expected," says the expert. Novartis fights currently, the production of the new therapy. You should cost 370000 Swiss francs in Switzerland.

Nevertheless, neither BMS nor Celgene to go from a Position of strength in the merger. Although BMS with the means of Opdivo and Yervoy is one of the pioneers of the new immune-Oncology. In this cancer treatment, cancer cells are provided with a Marker, so that the cancer is recognized by the immune system. However, especially in the important indication of lung cancer, Opdivo has lost a lot of ground against the drug Keytruda by the U.S. company Merck & co., Roche was not able to score points with its immune-Oncology drug Tecentriq in this field.

New takeover wave?

Celgene has, in turn, made out of concern prior to the patent expiry of its best-selling Revlimid, some of the acquisitions, the disappointed. For example, Receptos, by Celgene in the multiple sclerosis (MS), Ozanimod, got. However, the U.S. FDA refused to grant the funding approval. As a result, the share fell price of Celgene.

In the case of Roche and Novartis, the Pipeline applies for new active substances as well stocked. Therefore, both corporations, have no big acquisition is necessary. Competition in the cancer market, but from many sides harder. After the British GlaxoSmithKline in 2013, had sold its cancer business to Novartis, with a mix of the British after the 4-billion Acquisition of Tesaro in the cancer market. (Editorial Tamedia)

Created: 05.01.2019, 13:37 PM