Movetis: l'avaleur avalé?

L’OPA de Shire Plc sur la société de biotechnologie Movetis annoncée au début du mois d’août se déroulera du 6 au 27 septembre, a-t-on appris ce mercredi.

Quelques heures plus tard, une dépêche Bloomberg signalait que Shire pourrait, à son tour, faire l’objet d’une OPA en raison de son activité dans les enzymes. A suivre...

Voici la dépêche en question

Shire Plc, the U.K. maker of the Replagal treatment for a rare disease, may become a takeover target because it has an enzyme-replacement business, Ambrian Capital Plc analysts said.

Sanofi-Aventis SA’s offer to buy Genzyme Corp. for $18.5 billion shows that enzyme-replacement therapies are “seen as the ‘jewels in the crown’ for both companies,” making them attractive for acquisition bids, Paul Diggle and Mike Ward wrote in a note to clients yesterday. Another bidder for Genzyme "remains very possible," they said.

“This offer should at least be a reminder that Shire is one of the most attractive acquisition targets in the health- care mid-cap arena,” Ambrian’s analysts said of Sanofi’s bid for Genzyme. The enzyme-replacement business “is a very attractive asset and the rest of the business is also growing strongly.”

Shire’s Replagal and Genzyme’s Fabrazyme are treatments for Fabry’s disease, an inherited disorder caused by low levels of certain enzymes needed to break down fats that can build up in the body’s organs.