Alibaba led the financial news for months as the China-based Internet conglomerate made its $25 billion IPO — the biggest ever — on the New York Stock Exchange last fall. Now many U.S.-listed Chinese firms plan an about-face. They’re delisting from the U.S. stock market and going private. Many aim to go public in China despite a crash in the Chinese exchanges that follows big run-ups that many analysts called a bubble. Some observers see the
Specialty-drug maker Horizon Pharma tried to continue its recent acquisition binge Tuesday, making a hostile all-stock offer for Depomed worth roughly $3 billion, including debt. Depomed (DEPO) stock jumped 39% on the news to a record high, closing Tuesday at 28.62. Horizon Pharma (HZNP) stock, which touched its all-time high of 35.70 on July 1, fell 2% to 33.86. Horizon offered $29.25 a share for Depomed, a 42% premium on Monday’s closing price.
The FDA on Thursday afternoon approved Vertex Pharmaceuticals’ (VRTX) potential blockbuster cystic-fibrosis drug Orkambi, which the company priced at $259,000 per year, on the high side of investors’ expectations. The agency gave the nod to Orkambi, a combination of ivacaftor (which Vertex markets separately as Kalydeco) and lumacaftor, a booster that makes the drug effective in treating a much larger population than ivacaftor alone. The FDA