Two top pharmaceutical companies announced a merger this morning, continuing 2015's massive run of M&A activity.
Botox maker Allergan Plc. (NYSE: AGN) announced today that it will purchase Kythera Biopharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq: KYTH) for $2.1 billion. That values KYTH shares at $75 each - 24% higher than Tuesday's closing price.
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The pharmaceutical industry is one of the most profitable sectors in the world.
More than $978 billion was spent on prescription drugs in 2014, according to a report from ExpressScripts. That was a 13.1% jump from 2013.
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The pharmaceutical industry saw record-setting M&A activity in the first quarter of 2015.
According to PricewaterhouseCoopers, the "life sciences" field had 35 deals in Q1 2015. Those deals totaled $166.3 billion. That's more money than was spent during the entire year in 2014, when $150.1 billion was spent. In Q1 2014, just $46.5 billion was spent.
Money Morning's Defense and Tech Specialist Michael Robinson has been recommending a way to profit from the M&A boom throughout 2015.
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Two big pharma companies are in merger talks this week. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE: TEVA) announced Tuesday it's making a $40 billion bid for Mylan NV (Nasdaq: MYL).
Combined, the two firms would have revenue near $28 billion. That would make the company the ninth-largest pharmaceutical company in the world based on revenue.
Here's a look at the top 10 big pharma companies globally...
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Two of the world's top pharmaceutical companies have announced a merger today (Thursday), and that's another major buy signal for one of our favorite profit opportunities.
AbbVie Inc. (NYSE: ABBV) officials announced they will purchase Pharmacyclics Inc. (Nasdaq: PCYC) for roughly $21 billion.
The deal gives Abbvie access to one of the world's top-selling cancer drugs, Imbruvica. Revenue from Imbruvica alone is expected to hit $1 billion in 2015 and $5.8 billion by 2020.
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A sector of the pharmaceutical market known as "high-margin specialty drugs" is presenting us with the best pharmaceutical stocks to buy now.
According to experts at PricewaterhouseCoopers, consumer spending on high-margin specialty drugs hit $87.1 billion in 2012. In five years that number will quadruple to $401.7 billion.
The Wall Street Journal reports that total U.S. prescription drug spending was just $325.7 billion in 2012.
And those aren't the only alarming growth numbers boosting pharma stocks now...
Editor's Note: We're sharing this Private Briefing with you because it contains a pick that's put Bill's readers up as much as 444% since he first recommended the stock...
Shares of blood-cancer drugmaker Pharmacyclics Inc. rocketed as much as 22% last Tuesday after the company exhilarated investors by forecasting that sales of its key drug would double this year.
We weren't surprised by this, of course.
But even more important was that Private Briefing readers weren't, either.
In a Private Briefing report back in early December, we said the Pharmacyclics blood-cancer drug Imbruvica (ibrutinib) was well on its way to becoming the blockbuster we predicted when we first recommended shares of the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based biotech back in April 2012.
That "call" was right on target.
Late last Monday, after the close of trading, Pharmacyclics said net-product revenue for Imbruvica for full-year 2014 would come in at $492 million. That would include sales of about $185 million in the fourth quarter alone - a hefty "sequential" (quarter-to-quarter) jump of 31%.
But here's the real stunner: For 2015, the company is looking at sales to more than double and reach $1 billion.
For those who want the actual numbers, that's a gain of 103%.
Imbruvica, you see, is shaping up to be the very blockbuster we told you it would be.
And that bodes well for Pharmacyclics shares.
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Pharmaceutical stocks can plummet for myriad reasons: loss of funding, lawsuits, poor clinical trials.
It's a risky sector to get yourself involved in - one with big rewards. But, where there are big rewards, there are also big losses.
We took a look at five pharmaceutical stocks you should avoid...
Antibiotic-resistant microorganisms are turning into a national medical nightmare, and the need for new, more effective medications to treat them has reached critical mass.
In response, the U.S. government and the pharmaceutical industry are joining forces to handle the crisis - and extraordinary opportunities are beckoning the savvy investor.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that in the U.S. alone, antibiotic-resistant bacteria make 2 million people sick and 23,000 die each year.
Estimates of the annual cost to the economy range up to $35 billion in excess medical expenses and another $35 billion in lost productivity.
It's a problem that isn't going away. In fact, it's getting worse...
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Pharmaceutical stocks soar when their companies receive FDA approval. The key to investing in the pharmaceutical sector is research: you've got to know when, how and if the company you like will profit.
That's why we've compiled a list of the leading pharmaceutical stocks around.
Have a look at these drug companies yielding impressive gains while they treat diseases...
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There are more than 1,000 biotech companies in North America alone. They cover a wide range of sectors including pharmaceuticals, biologics, generics, and medical devices.
But finding the right stocks in such a broad industry is no easy task.
That's why we've targeted the best biotech ETF to buy now. It offers investors an excellent way to play the entire industry, without having to pick a specific sector.
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It's a common thought that investing in biotech stocks is just too risky for the average investor - but that's not the case.
It's true that biotechnology stocks can be very volatile - especially when companies have developmental drugs going through clinical trials - so they aren't the right stocks for every investor. But when investors are able to limit risk, they can find their portfolio's biggest profits from biotech.
Money Morning's BioScience Investment Strategist Ernie Tremblay recommends investors use this one simple strategy when investing in biotech.
It helps limit risk and maximize profits. Take a look…
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Investing in biotech stocks is risky for those who haven't done enough research. But with just a couple of tips, investors can drastically reduce the risk - and go on to benefit from massive windfalls generated by a company's breakthrough drug development.
To find out the best way to minimize risk in biotech investing, we turned to Money Morning's BioScience Investment Specialist Ernie Tremblay.
According to Tremblay, there are a couple of types of biotech stocks that are especially risky…
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Ask any bioscience researcher about leading trends in medical science, and at some point, you're likely to hear a lot of enthusiasm around the phrase personalized medicine.
That's treatment based on the individual's particular disease state, risk factors, and most importantly, genetic profile. And it's already yielding unheard-of profits for traders and investors.
As scientists reach the discovery limits of "one-size-fits-all" drugs and the ailments that respond to them, such as infections and circulatory diseases, they find themselves up against tougher, wilier, more intractable challenges... Full Story
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Biogen Idec Inc. (Nasdaq: BIIB) stock was up 1.6% this morning following news that the company's multiple sclerosis (MS) drug Plegridy was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday.
The stock is up 14% in the last month and is still showing bullish signs.
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