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Biotech / Medical : Elan Corporation, plc (ELN) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: William Partmann who wrote (652)	11/10/1999 9:00:00 AM
From: Gary Korn	Respond to of 10345

William, Thank you for the Smart Money article. Nice read! Gary Korn

To: William Partmann who wrote (652)	11/10/1999 4:07:00 PM
From: Gary Korn	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 10345

The following is a very interesting post from the YHOO board. I'm trying, now, to get a number from MER in case the call was taped. Incidentally, a $15B offer for ELN would be $57/share: re: Zonegran, et al by: dgher 11/10/1999 3:52 pm EST Msg: 3760 of 3760 I listened to a Merrill Lynch sponsored call (Dick Vietor) with Donal Geaney and Tom Lynch yesterday. To clear up a couple of things I have seen posted here, Zonegran has been approved and labeling discussion is down to 2 or 3 items. There is a 6 month review window for the FDA to respond and they are nearing the end (if it doesn't happen this Q then very early next). They have pre-submitted pieces of the Ziconotide NDA and the FDA has, so far, been responding the way they said they would when they asked for the additional 300 patients to be included. This gives ELN a high level of confidence that they will have a 4Q filing with expedited review. In response to accounting issues, they (as peviously disclosed) plan to buy back Axogen and Neurolab this quarter. AD vaccine is on track and European authorities have indicated posibility of a multiple dose Phase I instead of single dose. I asked about acquisition parameters (dilutive, etc.) and they said they weren't keen on doing dilutive acquisitions (spent a lot of time with investment community defending Athena acquisition when it happened). If the shoe were on the other foot and they were approached, they would have to consider a proposal, but given the Alza/Abbott deal it would have to be considerably higher (figure towards $15 bil). IMO, the company is simply frustated with the stock price and is being proactive to talk about what is really going on at the company.

To: William Partmann who wrote (652)	11/11/1999 9:49:00 PM
From: Gary Korn	Respond to of 10345

Are we happy? I think so. 11/11/99 Reuters Eng. News Serv. 05:31:00 Reuters English News Service C) Reuters Limited 1999. Thursday, November 11, 1999 UK: FOCUS-Celltech Chiroscience to buy Medeva. By Arindam Nag LONDON, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Celltech Chiroscience Plc said on Thursday it had agreed to buy drug firm Medeva Plc for 563 million pound ($915.6 million) in shares, boosting its product pipeline and gaining it a marketing network in Europe and the United States. Celltech Chiroscience, Europe's largest biotech company, is offering 34 new shares for every 100 Medeva shares in a deal that values each Medeva share at 165 pence, based on Wednesday's closing prices. This creates a combined group capitalised at around 1.3 billion pounds with potential drugs to treat a range of diseases including hepatitis, cystic fibrosis and leukemia. The transaction, however, surprised some analysts who said Celltech Chiroscience, which was formed last summer, has bought a major new business earlier than it should have. Celltech Chiroscience shares initially advanced, reaching a high of 510 pence on the belief it had picked up a bargain. But by 1020 GMT they had started declining and were six pence down at 479 pence. Shares in Medeva, which had already flagged that it was in takeover talks, added 3-1/2 pence to 157p. "It is astonishing that Celltech Chiroscience's management should be undertaking a merger like this before the first one (between Celltech and Chiroscience) has fully delivered," said Robin Gilbert, analyst with WestLB Panmure. Gilbert said that that Celltech Chiroscience Chief Executive Peter Fellner had left his management "desperately overstretched". Another analyst, John Savin of brokers Greig Middleton, also expressed scepticism saying: "In the short term Medeva is not a happy tale." Celltech Chiroscience sharholders will hold 56 percent in the enlarged company, which will be called Celltech Group Plc, with Medeva investors owning 44 percent. Fellner will retain his role in the company while John Jackson remains chairman of the group. NO EXECUTIVE ROLE FOR BOGIE Bill Bogie, chief executive of Medeva, has not been offered any executive role. He is to be a non-executive director and a consultant to the enlarged group. Industry sources told Reuters that merger talks had at one stage ran into trouble over price and the sharing of roles within the new group. Difference of opinion on pricing had forced Medeva to walk away from takeover talks twice in the last three months, the first time with Shire Pharmaceuticals and the second time with Ireland's Elan Pharmaceuticals . For Celltech Chiroscience, the deal brings Medeva's vaccine-making facility in Britain, its operations in Rochester and its marketing network in France, Belgium, Spain, Ireland. Among products, Medeva will contribute Hepagene, a hepatitis B drug which it hopes to market this year, a genetically-engineered drug to treat skin disease, a gene therapy for cystic fibrosis and a slow-release formulation of hyperactivity drug methylphenidate. These products will join Celtech Chiroscience's anaesthetic, Chirocaine, which is expected to be marketed next year, CMA 676 for acute myeloid leukameia which it is co-developing with American Home Products and CDP571 for Crohn's Disease. Celltech Chiroscience was advised by Robert Fleming and Cazenove while Medeva's advisers were Lazards and Merrill Lynch. ((London newsroom +44 171 542 4017, fax 44 171 583 3769, arindam.nag@reuters.com)). ---- INDEX REFERENCES ----

To: William Partmann who wrote (652)	11/11/1999 9:51:00 PM
From: Gary Korn	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 10345

11/11/99 Reuters Eng. News Serv. 11:58:00 Reuters English News Service C) Reuters Limited 1999. Thursday, November 11, 1999 UK: FDA warning seen pricing factor in Celltech deal. LONDON, Nov 11 (Reuters) - A warning from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on one of drug company Medeva Plc's production facilities gave bidder Celltech Chiroscience more negotiating power, industry sources said on Thursday. "It was clearly a factor in the pricing," a source familiar with the deal told Reuters. He said the FDA warning came in the last couple of weeks and it concerned its facility in Speke, north England, and the influenza vaccine Fluvirin. The FDA recently inspected the facilities and found deficiencies in control and validation of some of the manufacturing processes used in the production of Fluvirin. "This was a new factor and was discussed in detail by both companies," another source said. Analysts were surprised to see Medeva agree to a 165 pence all-paper bid from Celltech Chiroscience on Thursday, especially after it rebuffed two offers in the last three months at around similar prices. One of the offers, from Ireland's Elan Pharmaceutical Corporation , was a full cash offer. Medeva did not mention this separately to the market but in the merger statement it said: "Medeva is in the process of replying to the FDA with a detailed plan of response committing to make the necessary improvements to its processes so that it is fully compliant with FDA regulations." "The positive point in this is that it emerged at the end of the flu season," another source said. Celltech Chiroscience would now try to bring necessary changes in Fluvirin's manufacturing programme before the flu season starts in Spring 2000. Celltech Chiroscience shares closed 8-1/2 down at 476-1/2p while Medeva's shares closed three pence up at 156-1/2p. ((Arindam Nag, London newsroom +44 171 542 4017, fax 44 171 583 3769, arindam.nag@reuters.com)). ---- INDEX REFERENCES ----