>>> AstraZeneca R&D chief Briggs Morrison makes an unexpected exit

AstraZeneca R&D chief Briggs Morrison makes an unexpected exit

Briggs Morrison, the executive vice president for R&D at AstraZeneca and a major player in the pharma company's turnaround attempt over the past three years, is leaving the pharma giant, FierceBiotech has learned.
Staffers were buzzing this morning that Morrison's abrupt departure was left unexplained, as CEO Pascal Soriot spread the word that he would be stepping in to run R&D in the interim. A spokesperson confirmed the exit this morning.
Morrison was named one of three key executives to be put in charge of R&D at AstraZeneca at the beginning of 2013, just after Soriot stepped in in the wake of David Brennan's exit and booted Martin Mackay from the top spot. Soriot eliminated the old title of president of R&D, naming Morrison, Mene Pangalos in the U.K. and Bahija Jallal, head of the big MedImmune subsidiary to a top-level troika that would steer research operations at the pharma giant.

>>>DJ No Plans for Monsanto to Boost Syngenta Bid -- Market Talk

DJ No Plans for Monsanto to Boost Syngenta Bid -- Market Talk
9:59 EDT - Monsanto (MON) strategy executive Scott Partridge says the biotech-seed titan doesn't plan to boost its roughly $45B offer for pesticides purveyor Syngenta (SYNN.VX), a price he says is "more than generous." He also contended during and NPR interview that both companies' shareholders feel similarly, though SYNN.VX has again rejected MON's overtures. At this point MON would be bidding against itself, with no other suitors having emerged since its approach became public, and antitrust and other constraints are seen facing other potential entrants.

(BN) Lilly Says It Has ‘No Intention’ to Spin Off Animal Health Unit

Lilly Says It Has ‘No Intention’ to Spin Off Animal Health Unit
2015-06-10 01:01:59.963 GMT


By Drew Armstrong
(Bloomberg) -- Eli Lilly & Co. has no plans to divest its
animal health unit, the company said after its stock rose more
than any other in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index following an
analyst’s question about potential spinoff plans.
“We have no intention of divesting our Elanco Animal
Health business,” spokeswoman Lauren Zierke said in an e-mail.
“We continue to believe Lilly’s model for running Elanco is the
best one for creating strong business performance and
shareholder value. Furthermore, we expect Elanco to be an
important driver of growth for Lilly in the coming years.”
Lilly’s Elanco unit makes drugs for livestock and pets,
generating sales of $2.35 billion last year. The stock rose 5.4
percent to $82.77 at the close in New York, the most since March
2009, after Elanco President Jeffrey Simmons was asked if Lilly
might one day shed the unit in an initial public offering.
“We’ll see, but we are very intentional about a business
model that we think works,” Simmons said at an investor
conference hosted by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. “And we think the
IPO story hasn’t necessarily fully played out; there’s some
distraction in that model.”
Lilly, based in Indianapolis, got 86 percent of its revenue
last year from drugs for people. It’s seeking to rebound from
what it has called a low point in sales in 2014, after losing
exclusive rights to blockbuster medicines including Cymbalta and
Zyprexa.
Simmons said the company regularly discusses whether the
Elanco unit works better inside or outside Lilly. The animal
health business has many of its own plants and systems, and also
splits some services with Lilly’s human drug operations. There
are advantages to each, he said.
“We need to be as fast and autonomous as any competitor
that has been spun out,” he said. “The board and Lilly and the
executive officers are all saying, ‘Is there anything we’re
doing to slow us down and be less competitive?’”
In 2013, Pfizer spun off its Zoetis animal health unit
through an initial public offering. Since then, Zoetis shares
have gained 89 percent. The company reported $4.79 billion in
sales last year.

For Related News and Information:
Today’s most read health-care stories: MNI HEA <GO>
Bloomberg Intelligence Pharma dashboard: BI PHRM <GO>
Bloomberg Intelligence Biotechnology dashboard: BI BIOT <GO>
S&P’s Pharmaceuticals Index: S5PHAR <INDEX> MRR 10 <GO>
Top health news: HTOP <GO>
Top Bloomberg news: N <GO>

--With assistance from Catherine Larkin in Chicago and Caroline
Chen in San Francisco.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Drew Armstrong in New York at +1-212-617-8933 or
darmstrong17@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Crayton Harrison at +1-212-617-6145 or
tharrison5@bloomberg.net
Stephen West, Elizabeth Wollman

>>> US Gapping down

Gapping down
In reaction to disappointing earnings/guidance: FRAN -9.3%, URBN -2.7%, (disclosed thus far during Q2 comparable Retail segment net sales are mid single-digit positive), VIMC -2.5%, LMNR -1.7%, CLLS -1.5%

Other news: SALT -17.1% (announces public offering of $200 mln of common stock ), RXDX -4.5% ( announces public offering of $75 mln in common stock ), TRN -3.7% (announces a US District Court has entered judgment in the federal False Claims Act case filed against the company; intends to seek reversal of judgment), HRTX -3.4% (announces proposed underwritten offering of common stock), NRZ -3.3% ( announces the commencement of a public offering of 31,486,146 shares of its common stock; shares being sold by the company as well as selling shareholders), REGN -3.2% (FDA Advisory Committee votes 13-3 in favor of recommending FDA approval of PRALUENT (alirocumab) for the treatment of hypercholesterolemia ), NBG -3.2% (cont vol surrounding Greece negotiations), GPRO -3.2% (presenting at investor conf), GPOR -2.8% (announces agreements to acquire additional acreage, associated assets and incremental firm transportation commitments from American Energy Utica ), PACB -2.5% (still checking, may be in symp with REGN), TOF -2.2% (announced that President David Mintz, has successfully underwent surgery and expects to return to his duties this summer), CMRX -1.5% ( announces a $150 mln common stock offering), NEM -1.4% (prices its 29 mln share offering of common stock for total gross proceeds of ~$682 mln)

Analyst comments: DWA -1.9% (initiated with a Sell at Credit Agricole), HRB -0.9% (downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse ), NVDA -0.8% (downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Nomura
)

>>> US Gapping up

Gapping up
In reaction to strong earnings/guidance: SIGM +7.6%, SURG +7.5%, OXM +7.4%, APIC +4.6%, TSM +0.9%, (May sales)

M&A news: HCC +36.1% (to be acquired by Tokio Marine Holdings for $78.00 in cash per share), CSG +5.2% (Bloomberg reporting CSG is considering sale and has received some interest in the company), JCI +5.1% (to explore strategic options for separation of automotive business)

Select metals/mining stocks trading higher metal futures up ~1% in pre-mkt: RIO +3.7%, GFI +3.1%, AG +2.9%, GOLD +2.9%, BHP +2.8%, CLF +2.8%, MT +2.5%, MTL +1.6%

Select oil/gas related names showing strength with crude and nat gas futures up 2% in pre-mkt: RIG +2.5%, EXC +2.4%, TOT +2.3%, WLL +2.3%, SDRL +2.2%, PBR +2.2%, FE +2.2%, SM +1.8%, RDS.A +1.7%, BP +1.6%

Other news: CYTX +10% (preclinical data for the Treatment of Thermal Injury published in the Journal Burns), CTIC +8.1% (disclosed an amendment to the Development, Commercialization and License Agreement with Baxter (BAX); milestone payments from BAX were accelerated), UACL +7.9% (announced the commencement of a modified "Dutch auction" tender offer to purchase up to 1 mln shares of its common stock), CANF +7.8% (announces a Notice of Allowance from the US PTO for a manufacturing method patent for its drug candidate CF101), BLDP +7% (signs a framework agreement with Tangshan Railway Vehicle Company for development of a new fuel cell module), WETF +5.8% (to replace QRVO in the S&P MidCap 400), OGXI+5.8% (FDA has agreed to the co's proposed amendment to the Phase 3 AFFINITY protocol and statistical analysis plan), XOMA +4.2% (treatment of congenital hyperinsulinism granted Orphan Drug Designation), QRVO +3.2% (to replace LO in the S&P 500), LBIO +3.2% (treatment of malignant melanoma Stages IIb to IV (tumor-inflitrating lymphocytes; LN-144) granted Orphan Drug Designation), STO +3% (elects Oystein Loseth as new Chairman), SPAN +2.9% (co has been selected as a supplier of consumer bedding products for the a major retailer's seasonal promotion in the fall of 2015), UVE +2.6% (announces the repurchase and retirement of Series M convertible preferred stock), UBS +2.6% (announces shares of UBS AG's to be delisted from SIX Swiss Exchange in H2 of 2015), FLT +2.5% (announces the signing of a contract with Uber to provide the Partner Fuel Card ), TTM +2.4% (Indian stocks to be included in MSCI EM Index in 2016), DB +1.6% (strong mkts in EU overnight), ABB +1.4% (strong mkts in EU overnight), ING +1.4% (exchanges EUR337.5 million notes of NN anchor investors into NN shares), ARIA+1.4% (granted Paladin Labs, an Endo International (ENDP) company, exclusive rights to distribute Iclusig in Canada for its newly approved indications), APAM +1.3% (announced May 2015 AUM of $111.6 bln), TGT +1.1% (confirms a 7.7% increase to its quarterly dividend to $0.56/share and a $5 bln expansion of its share repurchase authorization), NFLX +1.1% (investor group approves share split and associated additional shares, according to reports)

Analyst comments: CL +1.5% (upgraded to Hold from Sell at Societe Generale), HOV +1.4% (upgraded to Mkt Perform from Mkt Underperform at JMP Securities), NTAP +1.3% (upgraded to Outperform from Sector Perform at RBC Capital ), FGP +0.9% (upgraded to Neutral from Underweight at JP Morgan), JBHT +0.8% (upgraded to Outperform from Sector Perform at RBC Capital ), DG +0.8% (upgraded to Outperform from Sector Perform at RBC Capital)