CNA – Samsung BioLogics yesterday denied a media report that said the South Korean firm was in talks to buy United States (US) drugmaker Biogen.
Korea Economic Daily reported on Wednesday, citing investment banking sources, that Biogen approached Samsung to buy its shares, which could be valued at over USD42 billion.
Biogen is valued at USD34.67 billion, according to Refinitiv data.
Samsung BioLogics, the biotech unit of Samsung Group, said in a regulatory filing that the report was “not true”, without giving any more details.
Biogen said it does not comment on market rumours or speculation. Its stock closed up 9.5 per cent on Wednesday.
Any such deal would be the biggest overseas acquisition ever by a South Korean company.
The largest so far was in 2016, when Samsung Electronics bought auto electronics maker Harman International Industries in an USD8 billion deal.
Samsung Group said earlier this year it will invest USD206 billion in the next three years to expand its footprint in biopharmaceuticals, artificial intelligence, semiconductors and robotics in the post-pandemic era.
In June, Biogen’s controversial Alzheimer’s drug won US regulatory approval, becoming the first new treatment for the memory-robbing disease in nearly 20 years, despite an outside advisory panel’s view that the company had not proven the treatment’s clinical benefits.
