Tag Archives: hznp

Medical Stocks Take Bloodbath; Valeant Creditors Demand New Terms

Disgraced drugmaker Valeant Pharmaceuticals ( VRX ) continued to sell off along with the rest of the medical sector Thursday as reports surfaced that creditors were demanding new terms as the company defaults on its massive debts. Reuters cited anonymous sources saying that in early talks, lenders were asking for higher interest payments and a pledge to pay a larger amount of the bank loans from the proceeds of any Valeant asset sales. Valeant has been in breach of its reporting covenant since Tuesday, when it missed its 10-K filing deadline, which it has 60 days to resolve. However, if it doesn’t file by March 30, it will also be in default with its bank creditors and will have only 30 days to resolve the default. Valeant is about $30 billion in debt after a years-long buying spree, culminating in a failed attempt to buy Allergan ( AGN ) last year. Allergan subsequently merged with Actavis and is now in the process of being bought by Pfizer ( PFE ). By late afternoon on the stock market today , Valeant stock lost 11.5% to 29.69. Medical groups tracked by IBD, even those unrelated to drugs, accounted for the seven worst performing groups out of IBD’s 197 industries. The generic drugs group led the slide with a 2.8% decline. The hardest-hit individual stocks were Valeant’s fellow specialty drugmakers, some of whom have consciously followed Valeant’s business model. Mallinckrodt ( MNK ) authorized a $350 million stock buyback but was down 4.1% to 53.42.   Endo International ( ENDP ), which is headed by former Valeant executive Rajiv De Silva, hit a three-year low of 27.62, trading down 11.4% to 30.03. Horizon Pharma ( HZNP ), which has been criticized for pricing policies much as Valeant has, was down 6.8% after selling off for the last three days. Among major drugmakers, Eli Lilly ( LLY ) tumbled 4.7%. Eli Lilly fell intraday to its lowest level since late 2014.

Drug Stocks Mixed On Guidance Updates

SAN FRANCISCO — The JPMorgan Healthcare Conference continued to yield mixed results for investors in its second day Tuesday, as several companies tweaked their guidance and big pharmas offered incremental updates. Specialty drugmaker Horizon Pharma (HZNP) had the best day, as its shares rose 6.2%, to 19.21, after the company updated its guidance ahead of its presentation Wednesday. Horizon said in a press release that its buyout of

Horizon Buying Maker Of Gout Drug For $510 Million

Specialty drugmaker Horizon Pharma (HZNP) agreed to buy privately held Crealta Holdings for $510 million in cash Friday, bringing it an orphan-disease drug with a troubled history. Last year, Crealta acquired Savient, maker of Krystexxa, a treatment for refractory gout. Krystexxa was launched in 2010 but never reached its full potential, according to Cowen analyst Eric Schmidt. “Savient admitted that Krystexxa’s launch was under-resourced, owing