Another takeover bid in Singapore’s healthcare sector highlights its attractiveness, says OCBC analyst Andy Wong; says after Parkway Holdings (P27.SG) announced proposal to be delisted after acquisition by Khazanah, “Thomson Medical Centre (5FV.SG) could follow suit after prominent investor Peter Lim’s general offer to acquire its shares at $1.75 a piece;” says shareholders will likely accept offer as values TMC at 33.5X P/E vs 15X historical average. 

Says “this is a testament of the high quality of healthcare providers here and has generated renewed hype in the healthcare sector,” with spillover effects seen in Raffles Medical (R01.SG) shares +1.8% at $2.29 (P/E of 26.4X) after announcement.

 

Keeps RMG at Hold with $2.35 fair value, as valuations already factor in strong fundamentals. But has Biosensors (B20.SG) at Buy, $1.30 fair value; likes stent-maker for cutting-edge technology, strategy on innovative new products. Biosensors +0.9% at $1.17. 

M&A in Health Companies WorldWide

McKesson to acquire US Oncology in $2.16B deal

McKesson to buy US Oncology in $2.16 billion deal that includes privately held company's debt

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- McKesson Corp. said Monday it will acquire US Oncology in an all-cash deal it valued at $2.16 billion.

McKesson, a San Francisco medical company that specializes in pharmaceutical supplies, said it will buy all the outstanding shares of US Oncology. The deal includes US Oncology's outstanding debt, which McKesson said will be repaid or refinanced.

US Oncology is a privately held company based in The Woodlands, Texas. It is affiliated with more than 1,300 oncologists and works with the health care industry in cancer research.

McKesson said the move would increase its reach into the growing cancer-treatment industry.

"McKesson and US Oncology's businesses are highly complementary, providing our collective customers access to more services and solutions that will enhance their ability to deliver advanced cancer care," Paul Julian, McKesson executive vice president and group president, said in a statement.

Bruce Broussard, US Oncology's chairman and CEO, will lead McKesson's specialty care solutions business. He will report to Julian.

US Oncology will continue to operate under its brand name.

Devax Receives IDE Approval to Commence DIVERGE II

IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Devax, Inc. today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has conditionally approved an Investigational Device Exemption (“IDE”) for its AXXESS™ Biolimus A9^® Eluting Bifurcation Stent System (AXXESS System), allowing the company to initiate a pivotal clinical trial (DIVERGE II) of the device in the United States.

“This is the first IDE approval of a drug eluting stent specifically designed for use in coronary bifurcations”

The DIVERGE II study is a multicenter, blinded, controlled, randomized trial comparing the treatment of bifurcation lesions with the AXXESS stent to standard techniques with conventional stents. The Principal Investigator is Jeffrey Moses, M.D., Professor of Medicine and Director of the Center for Intravascular Therapy at Columbia University Medical Center in New York.

Bifurcation lesions occur in approximately 20% of patients that are treated for ischemic heart disease with coronary angioplasty and stenting. Recent large scale clinical studies, such as SYNTAX and LEADERS, have shown that lesions located at vessel bifurcations increase the frequency of major adverse cardiac events by as much as 40% compared to lesions in straight vessel segments. Currently, there is no stent with an FDA approved indication for use in bifurcation lesions.

Devax has implanted over 430 AXXESS stents in two clinical studies conducted outside the United States. The second of these studies, DIVERGE I, enrolled 302 patients at 16 clinical centers in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. The 9 month follow up for these patients was presented last October at the Transcatheter Therapeutics conference in Washington, D.C. The data, published in the March 23, 2009 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, show high rates of clinical success and low rates of restenosis compared to other studies of bifurcations.

Discussing the significance of the study, Professor Moses said, “DIVERGE II will be a landmark study because there are many novel aspects to the trial. The AXXESS stent is the first drug eluting stent dedicated solely to bifurcation lesions. We see these types of lesions frequently in daily practice, and they are difficult to treat with conventional stents and techniques. Also, this study is the first randomized study to compare a lesion-specific drug eluting stent to a standard device in a complex vessel anatomy.”

“This is the first IDE approval of a drug eluting stent specifically designed for use in coronary bifurcations,” said Jeff Thiel, President and CEO. “We have focused our attention on being the first to market in the United States with a dedicated DES, and this is an important step toward that goal.”

The Devax AXXESS System technology is a proprietary self-expanding Nitinol stent specifically designed for the treatment of coronary and vascular bifurcation lesions. The conical shape of the stent is designed to conform to the bifurcation anatomy and provide full access to both branches for additional interventional procedures.

Devax, Inc., a private emerging medical device company located in Irvine, California, is engaged in the development of solutions for the treatment of atherosclerotic disease in coronary arteries.