CAT Fight with Abbott: The Calculus of Royalty Offsets and Partnering Reputation
Executive Summary
The fight between Abbott Laboratories and Cambridge Antibody Technology over two partly overlapping royalty-giveback clauses in their contract on Humira has implications far beyond the money--which itself is not inconsiderable. Abbott could theoretically save itself some $60 million in royalty fees, but it could also win itself a name for playing hardball with its partners, even in the event of a major drug development success.
You may also be interested in...
The Battle For OGS
Celltech's hostile bid for OGS may have scuppered the company's cosy merger plans with CAT. But OGS isn't giving in without a fight. And Celltech's offer may even prove beneficial to OGS shareholders, bumping up the firm's price-tag for CAT--or another suitor.
CAT Merges for Money; Chooses Well-Dowered OGS
The merger of Cambridge Antibody Technology and Oxford GlycoSciences won't, in the short term, solve many of the problems that both share--namely, a lack of products, scant clinical development capabilities and a non-existent sales and marketing infrastructure. It does, however, create a financially stronger potential acquiror in a European biotech industry in need of consolidation.
How Much for That Money in the Window?
Cambridge Antibody Technology PLC's January £55 million share-for-share offer for Drug Royalty demonstrates not only CAT's growth in the last decade but also a willingness by biotech companies to indulge in a little creative financing. The move will help CAT reduce its cash burn and ratchet up its R&D spending at a time when the pace of more traditional methods of raising cash remains sluggish. And not least important, the deal illustrates how a transparent financing transaction to improve biotech P&L can be a straightforward alternative to today's obfuscating accounting practices which, in the current climate, look disturbingly Enronian.