Arena Pharmaceuticals Up On Takeover Chatter

Arena Pharmaceuticals is trading higher on a Bloomberg article highlighting that the company could be acquired. The July 8th article notes that FDA approval of Belviq (locaserin) positions the San Diego-based company as a potential take out candidate, with interest possibly from GlaxoSmithKline, according to WBB equity analyst, Steve Brozak. A comment in the article from Lazard analyst, Bill Tanner, mentions that Esai Co., ARNA’s partner for Belviq in North and South America, could be a bidder as well. Analysts from Piper Jaffray note that Belviq could have peak sales of $2 billion, given the large market opportunity. According to the article, a spokesman for the company said that “Arena is focused on bringing Belviq to the market in the U.S. with Eisai and in obtaining approval of the drug in markets outside of the U.S.” The avoidance of the subject that Arena could be in talks with larger companies suggests that ARNA could be in play. As a result, look for ARNA to trade higher.