Hello, I’m Selina McKee, and here the daily news headlines for Friday 9 December.
GlaxoSmithKline has shelled out £230 million for UK antibody specialist Domantis, in the hope that access to the group’s portfolio will put it at the forefront of biotechnology.
The all-cash deal is expected to complete in January, when the firm will become part of GSK’s Biopharmaceuticals Centre of Excellence for Drug Discovery while continuing to operate from its base in Cambridge, UK.
In other news, Eli Lilly said it delivered a promising update to Wall Street yesterday, but its guidance of a 5% rise in earnings in 2007 left many analysts decidedly non-plussed.
The company has forecast earnings of $3.25-$3.35 per share for next year, falling below analysts expectations, although Lilly has pointed out that these do not take into account the dilutive effect of its planned $2.1 billion acquisition of ICOS.
Next year, sales growth is predicted to be in the high-single to low-double digit range, helped hugely by all the revenues from the erectile dysfunction drug Cialis after the ICOS deal goes through.
Well that’s all from me today, please join me again on Monday for more industry headlines, and have a nice weekend.
