Amylin Shares Jump as Sanofi, Merck Sumbit Bids

Amylin AMLN shares are surging in late afternoon trade on Friday after Bloomberg reported that the biotech firm has received first-round bids from Sanofi SA SNY and Merck MRK. According to sources, these bids were for at least $25.00 per share. The company has put itself up for sale and is being advised by Credit Suisse CS and Goldman Sachs GS during the process. The offers would value AMLN at over $4 billion. Currently, the stock has jumped around 8% to $27.85, giving the company a valuation in excess of $4.5 billion. In addition, Takeda Pharmaceutical and Bristol-Myers Squibb BMY have indicated that they will be submitting buyout bids for Amylin. Furthermore, Pfizer PFE, AstraZeneca AZN and Roche Holding have signed confidentiality agreements regarding Amylin's sale process, but it is not clear if these companies also plan on submitting bids. The sale of the company comes in the wake of a January FDA decision to approve Amylin's diabetes drug Bydureon, a once-weekly formulation of its earlier drug Byetta. Subsequently, Bristol-Myers Squibb unsuccessfully tried to buy the company for $22.00 per share.