Alzheimer’s drug firm shares slide as Samsung denies €33.6bn takeover bid

Biogen has struggled to push its controversial Alzheimer’s treatment in recent months. File picture: Pexels

Biogen shares fell after Samsung denied a Korean media report that the US drugmaker was in talks to sell itself to the company.

The stock fell almost 7% at one stage, erasing the gains made after an article from the Korea Economic Daily, which said that the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based biotechnology company had approached Samsung about a takeover.

Biogen has struggled to push its controversial Alzheimer’s treatment in recent months. 

The company gained US approval for the drug, Aduhelm, in June over the objections of experts who said there wasn’t enough clear evidence that it worked. 

Since then, patients and payers have balked at the treatment’s cost and the scientific debate.

A deal for Biogen, with a market value of almost $38bn (€33.5bn), would top the $34bn Medline Industries transaction, now the second-biggest acquisition of 2021, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

There are existing ties between the US biotech and the Seoul conglomerate. 

Samsung Bioepis is a joint venture between Samsung Biologics and Biogen focused on making low-cost biosimiliars. 

Samsung Biologics said in a regulatory filing yesterday that the report was not true. 

A representative for Biogen had declined to comment on market rumours and speculation.