製藥業天價收購令人擔心估值偏高

A late-night bidding war for a Californian biotech company has taken the value of healthcare deals in the past 15 months to nearly half a trillion dollars in a fresh sign that sky-high valuations have not slowed the pace of pharmaceuticals dealmaking.

對美國加州一家生物科技公司的深夜競標戰，使過去15個月的醫藥業併購交易總值逼近5000億美元，這一最新跡象表明，天價估值並未放緩製藥業撮合交易的步伐。

AbbVie won the three-way fight over Pharmacyclics, a biotech company that makes a single cancer drug, with a $21bn offer that hinged on the opening of three envelopes, according to a person involved in the final discussions.

據參與最後討論的一名人士透露，在圍繞Pharmacyclics的三方競標戰中，隨着3個信封的開啓，艾伯維(AbbVie)以210億美元的出價贏得勝利。Pharmacyclics是一家只生產一種抗癌藥物的生物科技公司。

Johnson & Johnson was confident earlier in the evening that its offer would prevail but was beaten in one of the most competitive bidding wars for years. AbbVie yesterday unveiled the details of its $261.25-a-share purchase of Pharmacyclics, having at the eleventh hour seized victory from Johnson & Johnson and a third unidentified bidder.

強生(Johnson & Johnson)在晚間的早些時候曾確信它將贏得競標，但最終在多年來競爭最激烈的一場競標戰中敗下陣來。艾伯維昨日披露了以每股261.25美元收購Pharmacyclics的交易細節，它在最後一刻才擊敗強生和另一家未指明的競標者。

AbbVie said the $21bn deal would be funded by 58 per cent in cash and the remainder in shares.

艾伯維表示，這宗210億美元交易的具體方式將是58%的現金加上42%的股票。

The deal, which represents a premium of about 60 per cent over the level Pharmacyclics was trading at in early February, will provide further evidence for those who fear that pharma groups are paying too much for drugs as they try to stave off a “patent cliff” and competition from cheaper generic rivals.

收購價格相比Pharmacyclics股票2月初的價格有大約60%的溢價。該交易將爲那些擔心製藥集團以過高價格收購新藥的人提供進一步證據，目前各家藥企正試圖避免“專利懸崖”，並擊敗較爲廉價的仿製藥競爭對手的競爭。

Almost $70bn of mergers and acquisitions have been done in pharma and biotech so far this year, according to Thomson Reuters — more than double the level of activity seen by the same point in 2014 and the strongest start to a year in more than a decade.

湯森路透(Thomson Reuters)數據顯示，今年迄今，製藥和生物科技領域的併購交易已經達到近700億美元，是去年同一時點的兩倍多，也是十多年來最爲強勁的開年。

Since the start of the year, Valeant has acquired gastrointestinal drugmaker Salix for $14.5bn, Pfizer bought Hospira for $17bn and Shire picked up NPS Pharma for $5.2bn.

自今年初以來，Valeant以145億美元收購了胃腸藥物製造商Salix，輝瑞(Pfizer)斥資170億美元收購Hospira，而Shire以52億美元收購了NPS Pharma。

Since January 2014 the healthcare sector has seen $475bn of deals.

自2014年1月以來，醫藥行業的併購交易總值已達到4750億美元。

The latest deal followed a tense round of bidding on Wednesday night, when several people involved in the process predicted that J&J, which has had a partnership with Pharmacyclics since 2011, would end up winning the auction.

最新交易是在週三晚間經過一輪激烈的競標之後達成的，多名參與這一過程的人士曾經預測，強生將勝出，因其自2011年以來一直與Pharmacyclics有合作關係。

In an interview with the Financial Times, Rick Gonzales, AbbVie chief executive, dismissed suggestions that it had overpaid. He said that once the rival bids had been disclosed, people would “conclude that all three players were within a relatively narrow range”.

艾伯維首席執行官裏克•岡薩雷斯(Rick Gonzales)在接受英國《金融時報》採訪時，對該公司出價過高的說法不以爲然。他表示，一旦披露競爭對手的出價，人們將會“得出結論，這三家公司的出價都落在一個相對狹窄的區間內”。

“I’ve been through a lot of these [deals], and I’d say this was probably one of the most competitive ones I’ve seen,” he added, a sentiment echoed by several others working on the deal.

他補充稱：“我經歷過許多此類交易，我得說，這可能是我見過的競爭最爲激烈的交易之一。”參與該交易的其他數位人士也有同感。

Shares in AbbVie fell by more than 4 per cent in early New York trading as investors reacted negatively, while some analysts questioned whether AbbVie had paid too much.

在紐約早盤交易中，艾伯維股價下跌逾4%，因爲投資者對此反應消極，同時一些分析師質疑艾伯維是否出價過高。

Vamil Divan, an analyst at Credit Suisse, said the deal was strategically positive” but that “the lofty price tag leaves us with some questions”.

瑞信(Credit Suisse)分析師瓦米爾•迪萬(Vamil Divan)表示，該交易在戰略上是積極的，但“過高的價格讓我們有一些疑慮”。

On a call with investors, Mr Gonzales predicted that Pharmacyclics’ Imbruvica drug, which is used to treat certain blood cancers, would achieve peak sales of $7bn, and that the deal would boost earnings by 60 cents a share in 2017.

岡薩雷斯在與投資者的電話會議中預測，Pharmacyclics生產的用於治療某些血癌的Imbruvica藥物將實現70億美元的最高銷售額，而該交易將讓該公司2017年每股盈利增加60美分。

But AbbVie’s sales forecasts for Imbruvica are built on the assumption the drug will be approved for patients with earlier stage blood cancers, as well as those with melanoma and solid tumours. “The valuation seems to imply some degree of success for Imbruvica in other indications where there is limited data,” said Mr Divan.

但艾伯維對Imbruvica的銷售預測建立在該藥獲批用於早期血癌病人以及患有黑素瘤和固體腫瘤的病人的基礎之上。迪萬表示：“這個估值似乎暗示，Imbruvica在其他領域取得了一定的成功，而這些領域目前數據有限。”