EyeQ Tech review EyeQ Tech EyeQ Tech tuyển dụng review công ty eyeq tech eyeq tech giờ ra sao EyeQ Tech review EyeQ Tech EyeQ Tech tuyển dụng double-skinned crabs double-skinned crabs double-skinned crabs double-skinned crabs double-skinned crabs double-skinned crabs king crabs double-skinned crabs double-skinned crabs crab roe crab food double-skinned crabs double-skinned crabs soft-shell crabs crab legs double-skinned crabs double-skinned crabs vietnamese seafood double-skinned crabs mud crab exporter double-skinned crabs double-skinned crabs crabs crab exporter soft shell crab crab meat crab roe mud crab sea crab vietnamese crabs seafood food vietnamese sea food double-skinned crab double-skinned crab crabs crabs crabs vietnamese crab exporter mud crab exporter crabs crabs

Breaking News

Russia launched intercontinental ballistic missile during attack on Ukraine, Kyiv says
Business

Painkiller firm rejects potential sale

By
Josh Kosman
Published Sep. 15, 2016, 5:59 p.m. ET

Jeff Smith is finally seeing his efforts to get pharma giant Depomed to put itself on the block.

Depomed, a big player in pain treatments, is said to be ready to sell the company after twice brushing aside suitors.

The failed sale attempts were beginning to grate on Smith, sources said.

But a report from Reuters last night said the company was now ready to review offers.

The report, citing people familiar with the matter, pushed the company’s shares up by as much as 12.7 percent in after-hours trading, to $23.94.

Arbor Pharmaceuticals, a specialty pharmaceutical company backed by private equity firm KKR, previously approached Depomed and was rejected, a source said.

Newark, Calif.-based Depomed last year beat back a takeover effort by Horizon Pharma by adopting a “poison pill” that made it harder to call a special shareholder meeting and file lawsuits.

Horizon withdrew its roughly $2 billion bid after suffering a legal setback in the takeover battle.

Starboard blasted Depomed’s board in April, calling its takeover defenses “egregious.” The New York hedge fund, which owns nearly 10 percent of Depomed in stock and options, said it would seek to replace six directors on the drugmaker’s board.

Depomed makes a handful of pain treatments including migraine drug Cambia. But its biggest seller is the painkiller Nucynta, an opioid drug that also runs the risk of addiction. Nucynta sales surged 27 percent, to $72 million, in the latest quarter.

The sale process is expected to begin once Depomed receives a court ruling on the exclusivity of its patent on Nucynta, Reuters reported.

This week, Horizon announced an $800 million deal to buy Raptor Pharmaceuticals, likely taking it out of the running if Depomed puts itself up for sale.

If it does not put itself on the block, Depomed would face an expected proxy fight with Starboard. It had hired MacKenzie Partners as its proxy adviser and retained investment bank Morgan Stanley, a source said.

“It is our policy not to comment on rumors or speculative comments,” a Depomed spokesman said. “Our focus has been and will continue to be on building our business and bringing value to our shareholders.”

KKR and Starboard declined comment.