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April 9, 2012 (Monday)
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Today’s Clips Alert is available at: https://ftcintranet.ftc.gov/clips/
COMPETITION
FTC, in turnabout, takes a closer look at hospital mergers. AMedNews.com 4/9
Survey: Gas prices may peak, depending on crude oil cost. CNN 4/8
Express Scripts asks judge to toss Medco deal objection. Bloomberg 4/7
Hospital Merger Blocked As Regulators Warn Of Higher Health Care Costs. Huffington Post 4/6
Antitrust challenge slows another hospital deal. Nashville Business Journal 4/6
Federal judge blocks OSF-Rockford Health deal. STL Today 4/6
Mylan sues FDA on generic Provigil. Pittsburgh Business Times 4/5
Robert Bork defends Google against antitrust criticism. The Hill 4/6
No Miracle Cure From Pharmaceutical Mergers. WSJ 4/6 (pasted below)
CONSUMER PROTECTION
The 17-Day Diet: Dr. Phil’s Family Ties to Book He Touts. The Daily Beast 4/9
Spam Invades a Last Refuge, the Cellphone. NY Times 4/7
Do-Not-Track Tools: Hands-On Showdown. PC World 4/8
Opinion: Jon Leibowitz: Protecting privacy in a TMI world. The Cap Times 4/7
Another day, another security breach. Baltimore Sun 4/8
Hot Line: The top 10 scams that defrauded victims last year. Times Reporter 4/8
Facebook IPO vs. privacy issues. AJC 4/7
When Using a Debit or Credit Card, Know Your Liability for Fraud. ABC News 4/8
Privacy advocate warns cybersecurity bills could lead to increased government. Infosecurity Magazine 4/6
Auto Loan Modification Scams Are Newest Concern for Drivers. Go Banking Rates.com 4/7
FTC shifting focus to loan modifications. WAVE 3-TV 4/6
Scott Zane, Scammed By Hope For Car Owners, Tells His Story. Huffington Post 4/5
Opinion: Debit card fraud hits far too close to home. Daily News 4/5
Donating To A Campaign? Now You Can Charge It. CreditCards.org 4/5
Global Payments Data Breach: What Midsized Business Needs to Know. Midsize Insider 4/6
Scam watch: Mortgage relief, time shares, suspicious email. LA Times 4/8
OF INTEREST
New security flaws detected in mobile devices. USA Today 4/9
Mike Wallace, CBS Pioneer of ‘60 Minutes,’ Dies at 93. NY Times 4/8
Twitter escalates anti-spam efforts, files lawsuit against spammers. Tech Spot 4/6
Petition urges feds to investigate bosses asking for workers' Facebook passwords. The Hill 4/6
TWEETS
Privacy
@stevecase: Selling You on Facebook on.wsj.com/I7SLyG WSJ reviews 100 apps & says many are obtaining sensitive information about users & friends (492,850+ followers)
@TechLiberation: How & Why the Press Sometimes “Sells Digital Fear” http://t.co/debSrtRQ #FTC #privacy (2,600+ followers)
@Ashk4n: .@JuliaAngwin Worth mentioning @FTCgov also settled w Facebook for "apps access to data the apps didn't need" (08/2009) ftc.gov/opa/2011/11/pr… (2,100+ followers)
Hospital Mergers
FTC, in turnabout, takes a closer look at hospital mergers bit.ly/Ie6JLW (950+ followers)
Express Scripts
Express Scripts Asks Judge to Toss Medco Deal Objection - Bloomberg: bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-0… #Antitrust (250+ followers)
Miscellaneous
@mint: Identity Theft Tops the List of FTC Complaints: Every year since 1997 the Federal Trade Comm... http://t.co/SarmLPif #MintLife #Minters (186,850+ followers)
@cbsmorningnews: Hidden airline fees? @ChuckSchumer: We want the FTC to require disclosure when airlines charge for baggage. (37,950+ followers)
Spam Invades a Last Refuge, the Cellphone CNBC.com ow.ly/1iFzqX (850+ followers)
TV HITS
Auto Loans
KONG-SEA Seattle, WA
KCAL-LA Los Angeles, CA
WAVE-LOU (NBC) Louisville, KY
KVVU-LV (FOX) Las Vegas, NV
WCMH-CBO (NBC) Columbus, OH
KLFY (CBS) Lafayette, LA
WNCT-GRENC (CBS) Greenville, NC
KCPQ-SEA (FOX) Seattle, WA
WPBF (ABC) West Palm Beach, FL
WSYX-CBO (ABC) Columbus, OH
WTLV-JAX (NBC) Jacksonville, FL
KTVK-PHX Phoenix, AZ
WMAR-BAL (ABC) Baltimore, MD
WXII (NBC) Greensboro, NC
WLEX (NBC) Lexington, KY
WSTM (NBC) Syracuse, NY
KMOV-STL (CBS) St. Louis, MO
KRON-SF (MyTV) San Francisco, CA
KTNV-LV (ABC) Las Vegas, NV
KFDA (CBS)Amarillo, TX
WPMT-HAR (FOX) Harrisburg, PA
KSBW (NBC) Monterey, CA
KVCT (FOX) Victoria, TX
WUTR (ABC) Utica, NY
KERO-BFL (ABC) Bakersfield, CA
KFSN-FRES (ABC) Fresno, CA
WANE (CBS) Fort Wayne, IN
WWLP-SPR (NBC) Springfield, MA
KDKA-PIT (CBS) Pittsburgh, PA
WSPA (CBS) Greenville, SC
WJRT (ABC) Flint, MI
Rockford Health Systems
WEEK (NBC) Peoria, IL
WHOI (ABC) Peoria, IL
Identity Theft
WBAY (ABC) Green Bay, WI
Express Scripts
KDKA-PIT (CBS) Pittsburgh, PA
Free Credit Reports
KSDK-STL (NBC) St. Louis, MO
Spam
KTVU-SF (FOX) San Francisco, CA
Job Scams
WSJV (FOX) South Bend, IN
Cooling Off Rule
KIVI (ABC) Boise, ID
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
No Miracle Cure From Pharmaceutical Mergers
By HESTER PLUMRIDGE, April 7, 2012
Drug companies have growing pains. But getting out their checkbooks to make up $35 billion in lost revenue from patent expirations this year is an expensive strategy.
Swiss group Roche has already had its third bid to buy gene-sequencing group Illumina rejected. That is despite offering an 88% premium to its pre-bid share price, or about $6.5 billion.
Roche's bid for Illumina is part of a bigger trend. Pharmaceutical deals worth $18.5 billion have been announced this year globally, a 5% increase from the same period last year, according to Dealogic. More assets could soon be up for grabs, including those for sale by pharma groups reshaping their own portfolios. Pfizer PFE -0.20%is considering divesting its animal health and nutrition units, which could fetch up to $18 billion and $10 billion, respectively. GlaxoSmithKline GSK -0.66%wants to sell more noncore consumer-health brands.
And there is ample firepower for acquisitions. After a flurry of megadeals between 2008 and 2010, including Pfizer-Wyeth, Novartis-Alcon and Roche-Genentech, debt has been paid down and balance sheets look healthy. Novartis's net debt is only a little higher than its $12.5 billion in annual cash flow and fell by a third during 2011. Roche's 15.6 billion Swiss franc ($17 billion) net debt is just 14% higher than its annual cash flow and fell by a fifth last year. Big European pharmaceuticals spent almost $15 billion on share buybacks last year, according to Moody's estimates, the highest amount since 2007.
Acquiring diagnostic, generic-drug companies and medical-device makers looks attractive. Pharma groups with more than half of their sales from such "nonpharmaceutical" areas trade at valuation premiums of about 15% to less diversified peers. For example, developing a special inhaler to deliver a drug can make it harder to copy. Fast-developing technologies like gene sequencing could offer huge growth if they enter the mainstream—as Roche is hoping with its Illumina bid.
But the scarcity of companies that have interesting assets and are large enough to grow sales significantly boosts acquisition multiples. Gilead Sciences GILD +1.21%paid an 89% premium for biotech Pharmasset in a recently completed deal. The median price paid for a global pharmaceutical deal in the last three years is 11 times earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, not far off the 11.9 times paid in the boom years, estimates Credit Suisse.
That is costly surgery for their condition.
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