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December 2004
With $200 Million Of New
Capital, Investors And Competitors Will Want To Keep An Eye On Ion Health
Behind The Scenes Of The Largest
Health Care VC Deal This Year, Plus Total Funding And Deal Volume Increase
November 2004
The Public Market Needs A Jump-Start Only
Two IPOs Are Priced, But They Are Faring Well
This month the public market has traded
quantity for quality, with very few offerings or filings made but a couple
of worthy IPOs.
October 2004
Dubious Timing: Are Stock Buyback
Programs Really The Right Prescription For Health Care Companies?
Stock buyback programs can make prudent
financial sense, but sometimes they can be misleading to the consumer and
the investor. Excess cash may have a better use.
September 2004
VC Spending Up 60%
Health care companies are dressed for
success in the venture capital market this month, with a plush $705.0
million draped over 51 deals.
August 2004
Public Equity Market
Although a good number of health care
companies have made or filed for their IPOs, some have withdrawn or
postponed their offerings, and most of those that have done their IPOs could
have fared better.
July 2004
Health Care Services M&A Volume Surges
In Second Quarter
For the health care merger and
acquisition market, the second quarter results mark a shift that favors the
services segment. Especially in the hospital sector, deal volume is up.
June 2004
If It’s June, It Must Be Time To Talk About Cancer Care
Some promising studies of new cancer
drugs were unveiled this month, at the annual American Society of Clinical
Oncology conference, which as usual, was a meeting of the minds among
clinicians, researchers and scientists.
May 2004
E-Health: Trying to Make a Come-Back With Some Presidential Prodding
New heights were reached on Wall Street
during the e-health revolution; although few companies came out of the crash
still trying to turn a profit, the President’s push for EMRs may put
e-health back in the spotlight, and may even help put some companies in the
black.
April 2004
Managed Care Merger Mania: Beware a Backlash
After the two billion-dollar deals announced
late last year, the market has been waiting for a surge in managed care
mergers. Unfortunately, increased consolidation in a much-criticized
industry may have some unexpected ramifications.
March 2004
Overall Equity Market Stalls,
But Not For Health Care
After a strong performance in 2003, the
bull market appears to be stalling, but not so for health care stocks.
Companies are lining up to go public and others are selling equity after
seeing their share prices jump.
February 2004
Big Pharma: Will Sassy Sanofi Sweeten
Its Hostile Bid?
Will the pharmaceutical industry survive another $60 billion acquisition?
That is the hope of Sanofi-Synthelabo as it tries to woo Aventis investors
into its tent with a miserly takeover premium. The price should go up to get
a deal done, but it remains a question who will pay it.
January 2004
The Venture Capital Train Rolls On For Health Care
With the IPO market still lackluster,
especially for health care companies, emerging firms that would have gone
public in years past, with investors clamoring for their shares, went back
to the venture capital well in 2003, raising more than $5.5 billion.
Unless conditions improve in the IPO market this year, 2004 could be a
repeat.
December 2003
Medicare Reform: Not Fixing The Problem (Again)
The largest expansion of the Medicare
program in 38 years, while providing holiday joy to some, still doesn’t deal
with several of the problems facing the health care economy in the future.
One thing for sure is that it is politics as usual.
November 2003
Big Blues Deal, But Trouble Brewing?
The largest managed care acquisition
ever is announced, but will it mean a new show of strength for the
combined companies, or is it a sign of weakness and that the managed care
bull market has peaked?
October 2003
Getting Bent Over Stents: The Battle Goes On
Drug-eluting stents work, are becoming
very popular with cardiac patients, and are at the center of several
lawsuits. So far, Johnson & Johnson remains at the top.
September 2003
Schering-Plough: This Runny
Nose Has Too Many Warts
It may have the market covered from
head to foot, but investors are wondering about SGP’s guts.
August 2003
Health Care M&A Market:
Getting Back To Normal
It’s not just the number of mergers and
acquisitions
that are starting to look like the “good old days,”
it’s the feistiness of some of the deals too.
July 2003
Health Care IPO Door Opens,
But Just a Crack
Cautious optimism is the watchword as
Molina Healthcare ends the drought and has a successful IPO. Are investors
starting to embrace health care again, and if so, with how much
enthusiasm? Here’s the lowdown.
June 2003
The Business, and Risk, of Fighting Cancer
Cancer drugs are leading a
biopharma rally, but the name of the game is still volatility.
May 2003
The Politics of Health Care:
Deja Vu All Over Again
Will “It’s health care, stupid!” be
the rallying cry for the next election? We don’t think so; here’s why not.
April 2003
Heading South: The Burglar of
Birmingham
The corporate game of made-up
profits is exposed at HealthSouth. How did things go so wrong, and what
should investors expect?
March 2003
Big Pharma: Time to Renew Investor Trust?
It’s unfortunate that, given how wary investors are these days, some pharmaceutical companies have tarnished their Blue Chip images. In an industry with no shortage of bad PR, it’s time to stop fooling around.
February 2003
Earnings Problems? Not in Health Care
Earnings results in health care were impressive in 2002, if early reports continue to hold. Double-digit growth was not uncommon. We discuss the news by sector, and portents for 2003.
January 2003
M&A Market Ends 2002 On Positive Note; Strong Beginning To 2003
As the blessing (curse?) goes, “May you live in interesting times.” In the markets, 2002 was certainly an interesting year. While no sector came away unscathed, health care proved amazingly resilient. The M&A market saw increases in both number of deals and dollar volume. We discuss what happened, why, and what comes next.
December 2002
2002: The Year Of The Abandoned Investor
Health care has unfortunately mirrored the larger market this year; only managed care has done substantially better, while pharmaceuticals did worse. But health care M&A and venture capital have both been healthy. We discuss the portents for profit in the public markets in 2003.
November 2002
Medicare: The Bane Or The Benefactor of Health Care?
In today’s world, most health care providers cannot survive without Medicare, but the growing dependence on the federal program leaves some companies overexposed to changes in reimbursement or new interpretations. Cases in point are HealthSouth and Tenet Healthcare, but there were many before them.
October 2002
Profiting From Overreaction: Will Fallen Angels Rise Again?
Times may be tough, but some health care stock prices have tumbled irrationally and may be poised to turn profits for the optimistic investor. Are double-digit jumps still possible?
September 2002
HealthSouth: Three Strikes And You’re Out?
In the equity markets, HealthSouth has had a troubled past. In three of the past five years, the company’s stock price has plunged for a variety of reasons, with the most recent problem occurring in the past month. Will the current plummet be the last straw with investors, or is the market missing a real opportunity at these low values?
August 2002
Health Services Profits Strong, But For How Long?
The past month has been earnings season, and many of the pharmaceutical companies released somewhat poor results. Managed care and hospital companies, however, are flush with profits. Will something change?
July
2002
The M&A Market: A Premature Eulogy?
While many were off on their summer vacations, bankers and lawyers put the finishing touches on the first blockbuster deal of the year with the surprise announcement that Pfizer will buy Pharmacia Corp. in an all stock
deal.
June 2002
Going, Going....Gone? The Saga Continues
The news does not get any better for the Bristol-Myers Squibb/ImClone Systems saga. Among allegations of insider trading, resignations and arrests, there still may be a decent cancer drug waiting in the wings. But Bristol-Myers may not be around to see it. That, however, is not a likely conclusion to this sorry story.
May 2002
Big Month For Venture Capital Health Care Investments
Returns for venture capital firms may be down, but that is not stopping them from pumping money into private health care companies. With an average investment of more than $16 million, 23 companies raised almost $400 million in the past month. We hear, however, that one of the reasons for the high volume is that valuations have dropped to more acceptable levels for the investors.
April 2002
Bad Luck or Bad Management: What’s Next For Bristol-Myers?
Is Bristol-Myers Squibb adrift, or will management get its arms around the many problems facing the pharmaceutical giant? With its share price already at a four-year low, one more blowup and the company may be heading to the altar.
March 2002
Of ImClone, Icahn and Investing: Perils of Single Product Dependency
ImClone Systems lost 70% of its market value in a matter of days when the FDA refused to review the application for one drug, jeopardizing the company’s recently signed deal with Bristol-Myers Squibb. But the company is not alone in depending heavily on one product; other biotech and small pharmaceutical firms struggle with bad news, and investors have little patience.
February 2002
Fourth Quarter Earnings: A Mixed Bag?
While the rest of corporate America is struggling with disappointing year-end profits, the health care sector ended the year in reasonable shape. Even though some of the large pharmaceutical companies will see a flat year in 2002, the generic drug companies will more than make up for any profit shortfall. The hospital sector continues to surge with increases in admissions and revenue per admission.
January 2002
Mergers and Acquisitions: A Rebound In Store For 2002
The level of M&A activity should increase in 2002, as several sectors recover from the financial distress of the past few years while many companies will turn to tactical acquisitions.
December 2001
Of Lawyers, Legislation and Loopholes: Welcome Health Care 2002
Health care will have a strong year in 2002, but if the lawyers and lobbyists take over the direction of the industry, big problems will arise. Health care will always be big business and profits are necessary, but watch out for unwelcome change.
November 2001
IPO Market Open For Health Care Business - Finally
As the markets get back to normal, the IPO market burst with activity. Five new health care IPOs
were priced, and all have traded above their offering levels. More new
issues can be expected before the end of the year.
October 2001
WebMD vs. Quintiles:
Desperately Seeking
Something?
Just 18 months after finalizing a mega-deal, WebMD
and Quintiles call it quits, even though they once had discussions about
merging the two companies. Were concerns about patient privacy and obeying
the letter of the law at the center of the dispute, or was it economics
for a company in search of profits?
September 2001
Will Health Care Lead The Econ omy Out Of Looming Recession?
With the economy almost certainly heading into a recession after the terrorist attack on September 11, the health care industry may benefit from a slowdown and is in a good position to lead the economy out of a recession.
August 2001
Health Care Services: Back In The Limelight
After several years of being
under attack by federal investigators and abandoned by investors, almost
all areas of health care services are performing well again, and higher
stock prices are the result. Renewed M&A activity will follow.
July 2001
Big Pharma: Big Trouble, or Will It Weather the Storm?
Despite record profits for many pharmaceutical companies, will the future bring leaner times as Medicare, Medicaid and other payers start to play hardball? And what about competition from generics?
June 2001
Of Jeffords, CMMS And Analyst Standards: What It All Means For Health Care
May 2001
First Quarter Earnings: Better Than Expected, Mostly
April 2001
Managed Care Industry: Is Aetna A Warning Signal
March 2001
Home Health Care: On The Road Back To
Profits And Growth
February 2001
As stability begins to return
to the health care market, equity offerings may increase
January 2001
Health care services merger and acquisition volume hits lowest level since
1993
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