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Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Novartis and GSK trade assets as pharma industry reshapes, (NYSE: AZN), (NYSE: PFE)

Novartis and GlaxoSmithKline agreed to trade more than $20 billion worth of assets on Tuesday to bolster their best businesses and exit weaker ones as the drug industry contends with healthcare spending cuts and generic competition.The deals, which include Novartis' purchase of GSK's cancer drugs and GSK's acquisition of Novartis' vaccines business, came just after a newspaper report that AstraZeneca Plc had turned down a $101 billion bid approach from Pfizer Inc, a story that sent shares up across the sector.In addition, Novartis is selling its animal health arm to Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly for about $5.4 billion in cash. That would make Lilly's Elanco unit the world's second-largest animal health business when that deal closes early next year.A flurry of dealmaking has overtaken the global pharmaceutical industry recently as most large companies try to focus on a small number of leading businesses, while smaller specialty and generic producers seek greater scale.

AstraZeneca PLC (AstraZeneca) is a global biopharmaceutical company. Shares of AZN fell by 3.23% or $-2.229/share to $66.87. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $46.87 and as high as $69.65. On average, 2390670 shares of AZN exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 5765481.

Pfizer Inc. (Pfizer) is a research-based, global biopharmaceutical company. Shares of PFE traded higher by 0.97% or $0.3/share to $31.16. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $27.12 and as high as $32.96. On average, 28901400 shares of PFE exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 17010446.



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