Johnson & Johnson is in talks to acquire the Swiss biotech company, Actelion, which develops drugs for rare diseases such as pulmonary arterial hypertension. Actelion share price has been steadily rising since 2011, with the company reporting 1.8 billion in sales during the first 9 months of 2016. Acquiring Actelion could diversify Johnson & Johnson’s drug portfolio especially as the patent for Johnson & Johnson’s drug Remicade, an autoimmune therapy, which made 4.5 billion in sales last year, is expiring and the company is expected to lose 1 billion in sales in 2017. Two other major bids to buy out Actelion have been made in 2011 and 2015 but the company has thus fair remained independent. Johnson & Johnson’s first offer of $26 billion dollars was rejected, but the two companies are reportedly still in negotiation.
http://www.nasdaq.com/article/johnson–johnson-boosts-actelion-bid-bloomberg-20161202-00751
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-actelion-m-a-johnson-johnson-shares-idUSKBN13K1F0
http://www.wsj.com/articles/johnson-johnson-approaches-actelion-about-potential-deal-1480092170/