Innovata in merger talks with SkyePharma

Nottingham-based pharmaceutical firm Innovata has confirmed that it is behind a bid for troubled rival SkyePharma.

Yesterday, Innovata released a statement revealing it was in early stage talks with SkyePharma but added “there can be no certainty that a transaction will be concluded”.

Biotech firm Innovata was created with the merger of ML Laboratories and Quadrant Technologies earlier this year and has a core business producing inhalers used in the treatment of respiratory diseases.

SkyePharma is headquartered in the UK and has operations in the US, Canada, Switzerland, France and Japan. Products include asthma treatment Flutiform.

Reuters reports an industry analyst as saying: “It looks like Innovata is talking merger rather than taking SkyePharma out. The market generally thought they were going to get taken over. That’s why they were going up.”

Switzerland’s Novartis and Roche have also been rumoured as possible bidders for the firm.

Shares in SkyePharma slumped by 15.2 per cent as the statement issued by Innovata was taken by dealers to suggest a partial combination of the companies, rather than an outright bid.

An Innovata spokeswoman said any combination with SkyePharma could take “a number of forms”.

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