acquisition

Now that some time has passed, we're finally beginning to make sense of how Part D is impacting the healthcare industry. As expected, the impact for insurers and pharmaceutical companies has largely been positive. Of the major insurers, UnitedHealth Group has signed up the most new customers, adding 3.9 million thanks to partnerships with AARP and the PacifiCare acquisition. Following not far behind are Humana and WellPoint. Smaller insurers, are seeing only "limited gains" the paper …

A major shareholder of LifePoint stock is demanding that the hospital chain make management changes and cancel the proposed $285 million purchase of four facilities in West Virginia from HCA scheduled to close this week. Accipiter Capital Management, which controls about 900,000 shares of LifePoint stock, argues that the West Virginia facilities are likely to be less profitable than anticipated because hospitals are subject to the West Virginia Healthcare Authority, which has the power to …

Boston Scientific CEO James Tobin meets with FDA officials today to discuss concerns over quality control issues at several of the device maker's facilities. Last week, the FDA delivered a stern rebuke to the company, saying it has failed to correct deficiencies despite repeated warnings. Some Wall Street analysts have speculated that the regulatory problems could delay Boston Scientific's acquisition of Guidant. Not surprisingly, the company is adopting a conciliatory tone in its …

Canada's Angiotech Pharmaceuticals said it will pay $758 million in cash for privately held American Medical Instruments holdings, a maker of custom needles. In the medical device world, Angiotech is perhaps best known for its collaboration with Boston Scientific on the successful Taxus stent. Angiotech plans to use the acquisition to expand into markets for specialized products for general, plastic and ophthalmic surgery as well as the vascular surgery market.

- see this article from the New York Times

WellPoint chairman Leonard Schaeffer resigned this week. The position will be filled by president and CEO Larry Glasscock. Observers suspect that Mike Stocker (Empire Blues) will move to the board, a condition of WellPoint's planned $6.5 billion acquisition of New York-based WellChoice. In 2003, some estimates put Schaeffer's stake in the company after the Anthem-WellPoint merger at around $325 million.

- read this article from Indystar.com

Johnson & Johnson CFO Robert Darretta told analysts that his company expects Federal Trade Commission approval for its acquisition of Guidant but that it is considering "alternatives" to the blockbuster deal. Observers immediately interpreted that to mean that the company is considering either renegotiating a new price in light of the device maker's recent problems or abandoning the deal altogether. Guidant's shares fell nearly 10 percent in morning trading. The company has been hard …

The rumors, it turns out, were true. Continuing its policy of buying horizontal and vertical application vendors, database giant Oracle announced plans to acquire Siebel Systems for $5.85 billion. The acquisition is likely to be felt most in the pharmaceutical industry, where Siebel is a well-established player in sales force management software and where Oracle, apart from its databases, is already a big player in clinical trial applications. Health plans, which have traditionally been …

Cerner continues to please Wall Street. The healthcare software and services company said earnings were up 38 percent in the second quarter. The company reports new bookings of $284 million. Key moves for Cerner over the last three months have included the acquisition of Bridge Medical, a bar coding specialist. Earlier in the summer, Cerner wrested away a key UK southern region NHS subcontract from IDX. Cerner's stock was up 5 percent this morning.

- see this story from the Kansas City Star  

Express Scripts said it will pay $1.3 billion for Florida specialty pharmacy company Priority Healthcare. The move is expected to strengthen St. Louis-based Express Scripts' position in a field it entered only a year ago with the acquisition of CuraScript. Analysts say the recent trend toward therapies delivered at homes and in doctors' offices make the specialty business an attractive buy. Some estimates suggest the specialty pharmacy sector could double in the next few years, with the …

Medtronic is expected to announce this morning that it is entering the obesity market with the acquisition of Transneuronix, a company which makes an implantable stomach pacemaker. Minneapolis-based Medtronic will pay $260 million to take over Transneuronix, which has been in business since 1995. The deal will allow Medtronic to market the company's Transcend pacemaker, which it describes as a "gastric stimulator." Although the technology, which sends impulses to the brain telling it …