Schering Plough chief: Merger prices “breathtaking”

Prices obtained in the recent wave of pharmaceutical bids have been described as “breath-taking” by the chief executive officer of Schering-Plough.

Fred Hassan believes that the takeovers suggest how difficult it is for large drug companies to acquire suitable drug candidates, as Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD) states it is paying a 102 per cent premium for research group Sirna Therapeutices.

The deal is worth ?524 million and has been made to increase its presence in RNAi research despite the fact Sirna is yet to market a product. This comes a fortnight after Eli Lilly said it is planning to buy Icos, which co-markets a drug for erectile dysfunction, reports MarketWatch.

Following the recent deal, Peter S Kim, president of MSD Research laboratories, said that he was “delighted” to have acquired Sirna.

Mr Hassan said: “The prices that are being paid by our competitors are breath-taking,” said Hassan, in an interview with MarketWatch on Wednesday. “They would’ve been unthinkable five years ago.”

He added that Schering-Plough’s commitment to financial discipline has recently inhibited the company from conducting deals, although this should not prevent its growth in the existing structure.

Major products for the treatment of conditions such as HIV, hepatitis C and rheumatoid arthritis are in the pipeline, which could propel the organisation’s success, he concluded.