The $75 billion biotech giant Biogen surged on a report of a potential takeover (BIIB)
Biogen, the $75 billion biotech giant, surged on Tuesday after a report that it had received takeover interest.
The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday reported that Merck and Allergan have each informally expressed interest in doing a deal.
The talk of a takeover comes just days after Biogen said that its CEO, George Scangos, would leave the company after six years at its helm.
A takeover of Biogen would be the biggest of a biotech company since 2008, and one of the largest takeovers by a drug company on record.
RBC's Michael Yee predicted in a note on Tuesday that a takeover could value Biogen at $375 to $475 a share. It was trading around $300 a share before the news broke earlier on Tuesday.
Investing.com
Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Biogen makes drugs that treat multiple sclerosis and hemophilia, and its main focus overall is on neurological and autoimmune diseases, as well as rare diseases.
As Business Insider's Lydia Ramsey reports, Biogen on Monday officially got the rights to sell a promising spinal muscular atrophy drug globally. The drug, nusinersen, succeeded in a late-stage trial, the company said.
Drugmakers embarked on a record deal-making spree in 2014 and 2015, as they sought to rebuild drug pipelines as older drugs lost patent protection.
Several of the largest biotech takeovers of those years became fiercely competitive as huge drugmakers tapped low-cost debt for the spending.
A representative for Allergan said that the company "does not comment on market rumor or speculation." A representative for Merck also declined to comment. Biogen could not immediately be reached for comment.
NOW WATCH: Watch Maria Sharapova explain why she failed a drug test