Two months ago, New York-based Acorda Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ACOR) had to discard its late-stage drug tozadenant due to five patients passing away in a clinical trial.
At the time, this looked like it was going to be the start of trouble for the biotechnology company. That was until yesterday when Acorda Therapeutics posted its preliminary guidance for its 2017 sales.
After the guidance was announced – which was an increase from two years ago – rumors started to surface that there were a number of companies eyeballing Acorda as a potential takeover target.
The Guidance Report
Speculation arose Friday morning after Bloomberg reported that companies were looking at Acorda as a takeover target, just one day after Acorda, which focuses on developing and commercializing novel therapies targeted to ease neurological disorders, posted its preliminary guidance for last year’s sales.
Though the guidance was technically below what the Street was forecasting ($568 million), Acorda did see an increase of 10% from 2016 by announcing a preliminary guidance for last year’s sales to be $542 million. Currently, the company’s market cap sits at $1.28 billion.
CEO Ron Cohen stated that the company forecasts that 2018 will be a “transformative year,” and it appears, based on the various media reports that surfaced today, a transformative year it will be.
The Candidates
Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB) is reportedly looking into Acorda Therapeutics as a potential takeover target.
Biogen is a biotech company that focuses on developing and discovering therapies that treat various diseases like autoimmune diseases and neurodegenerative problems.
From my experience, if I’ve learned anything about the stock market, it’s that it loves buyout buzz, so I’m not surprised to see that today’s buyout speculation has resulted in a near 10% increase for the company.
As of this writing, Acorda is trading at $27.15, putting the ACOR stock up $2.15, or 8.60%. The stock is moving up and down every couple of seconds, but I’m fairly confident that the stock will continue to climb as the day goes on once more people start to hear the news.
Featured Image: Twitter
