JPC THROWING IN THE TOWEL & US UNDER THE BUS! ...

[Anonymous]

Actelion CEO won't cling to independence -magazine

Tue Apr 5, 2011 6:57am EDT

ZURICH, April 5 (Reuters) - Swiss biotech group Actelion (ATLN.VX) will not cling on to independence if it does not generate shareholder value, the group's chief executive was quoted as saying on Tuesday.

"Independence is not an end in itself. Our shareholders should earn money with Actelion," Jean-Paul Clozel said in an interview with Swiss Equity magazine.

"And if we are not able to manage this anymore as an independent company, then we will not clutch on to independence," Clozel, also a co-founder of Actelion, said in a version of the interview that will be published on Thursday.

Actelion had previously said it wanted to remain independent as speculation mounted the $7 billion group could be the next biotech to be bought after French group Sanofi (SASY.PA) snapped up U.S. company Genzyme (GENZ.O). [ID:nLDE72U0E2]

Actelion's largest shareholder Elliott Advisors has urged the group to consider putting itself up for sale after a number of product setbacks last year, saying Actelion was destroying value for shareholders.

Elliott has also called for Actelion chairman Robert Cawthornis and Clozel to step down and nominated six candidates for the board at the annual general meeting on May 5.

Clozel said shareholders were worried Elliott was only looking for short-term gains. "Our shareholders have been committed to Actelion for years and are firmly behind our strategy," he said. (Reporting by Katie Reid; Editing by Dan Lalor)

[Anonymous]

How is this throwing us under the bus?

[Anonymous]

buyout=layoffs

[Anonymous]

Just ask how many former CoTherix employees are still with Actelion. If anyone buys Actelion, South San Francisco will be closed and the ops moved to Jersey.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, "the big one" hitting SSF will not be an earthquake but a company-altering shakeup from home ofc to the fld

[Anonymous]

This doesn't look good. If we get purchased wouldn't they want to keep the field sales force. None of the companies looking to buy will have a PAH sales force.

[Anonymous]

Legit PAH sales force? generic Tracleer? Mac promises going up in smoke soon? WHO knows??

[Anonymous]

Legit PAH sales force? generic Tracleer? Mac promises going up in smoke soon? WHO knows??

Yeah yeah yeah. First we had the failed CHF trials, then the failed almorexant trials and now the macitentan trials. This company has produced nothing in the pipeline but crap. The reverse of the Midas touch. Thanks, Jean Claude.

[Anonymous]

Actelion would consider sale at right price-INTERVIEW-UPDATE 2

Thursday April 14, 2011 11:02:08 AM GMT

* Actelion chairman says group has never received an offer
* Chairman says now worst time to sell Actelion
* If got appropriate offer would recommend to shareholders
* Group has broad pipeline, upbeat on new drug macitentan

By Katie Reid and Paul Arnold

ALLSCHWIL, Switzerland, April 13 (Reuters) - Swiss biotech group Actelion has never received a takeover offer but the board would consider a bid for the company at the right price, its chairman told Reuters.
Elliott Advisors, a New York-based fund, which holds nearly 6 percent of the $7.5 billion company, has urged Actelion to consider putting itself up for sale after a spate of product setbacks last year and has called on it to disclose any offers it may have received.

"We have never had an offer," Chairman Robert Cawthorn said at Actelion's headquarters on the outskirts of Basel, ahead of a tour to meet shareholders in Brussels, New York, Boston and the United Kingdom before the annual general meeting on May 5.

"If there ever were an offer to be made for the company that was even close to the value that the board sees in this company ... this board would absolutely consider it," Cawthorn said.

"And if appropriate we would recommend it to the shareholders. And that includes (chief executive) Jean-Paul (Clozel). He might not like it because this is his baby, but he knows what his responsibilities are," he said.

At 0745 GMT, Actelion shares were trading 0.5 percent higher, outperforming a flat European healthcare index.

Cawthorn cautioned, however, that selling now would not be in the interest of shareholders, and the value of the company was likely to rise as the potential of its new drugs became more apparent.

"This is the absolute worst possible time to start thinking of selling this company. Big pharma companies and big biotech companies are actually pretty risk averse," Cawthorn said.

"To think of selling the company now would really take potential value out of the pocket of our shareholders. If it were so attractive, why haven't there been people coming out of the woodwork wanting to buy us in the last few months?" he said.

Cawthorn also said the board regularly evaluated the risk-adjusted value of the pipeline, and would take action if a sale of the company would bring shareholders more money than staying independent.

Speculation has swirled that Actelion could be the next biotech target after French group Sanofi snapped up Genzyme for more than $20 billion.

But some analysts have said the group founded in 1997 by Clozel, a former Roche scientist, was unlikely to be bought before publication of data on key drug macitentan either at the end of this year or beginning of next.


PROMISE OF THE PIPELINE

Actelion, Europe's largest biotech group, is banking on its pipeline and leading position in the area of pulmonary arterial hypertension, an often fatal disease of the heart and lungs, to bring value to shareholders.

Some investors have lost confidence in the company's ability to broaden its pipeline away from Tracleer, which makes up around 85 percent of sales, after last year's product failures, which hit the group's shares hard.

There are also worries the group is pinning too much hope on macitentan, which is being billed as a better version of Tracleer.

"For the size of our company, we have got the best pipeline of potential new products of anybody. They won't all work. We don't need them all to work. Not everything is dependent upon macitentan," Cawthorn said.

Cawthorn highlighted PAH drug selexipag, multiple sclerosis treatment S1P1 and asthma medicine CRTH2 as products that could also bring value to shareholders.

"We've got a balanced pipeline. Some things which are relatively low risk, some things which are more high risk," Cawthorn said, adding a lot of data was due in the next year.


ALL ABOARD

Cawthorn, who hails from Yorkshire, northern England, was the first employee at Biogen and has chalked up nearly 40 years of industry experience.

He will hand over as chairman next year to former GlaxoSmithKline CEO Jean-Paul Garnier if shareholders elect Garnier to the board at the AGM.

Cawthorn said the group had had a lot of support from its long-term shareholders and that Actelion's two nominations for the board had been "extremely well received".

The company has also proposed that Robert Bertolini, former chief financial officer of Schering-Plough, join its board.

Actelion's proposals came after Elliott called on Cawthorn and Clozel to leave the board and put forward six of its own candidates for the board, including former Novartis executive James Shannon to take over as chairman. (Editing by Ben Hirschler and Will Waterman)

[Anonymous]

See Ya! Actelion is toast.

[Anonymous]

We got like 52 enrollments last week, we are so screwed!!!!! I remember when we got 120 to 130 a week. Actelion is dead!!!!!!!!!

[Anonymous]

Agreed! Worried about Q2 results on Tues. Time for another price increase?

[Anonymous]

This one trick pony deserves to die a slow death