New rumours of Eli Lilly's interest push Abivax to the Paris Stock Exchange

(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - The rekindling of speculation about a possible takeover by US pharma giant Eli Lilly & Company gives Abivax wings on the Paris Stock Exchange (CAC 40 ). The French biotechnology company's stock is among the best on the Euro Stoxx 600 and also rises in the US premarket.

In detail, according to the newspaper 'La Lettre', at the beginning of December representatives of the American pharmaceutical company (which with Novo Nordisk is one of the main competitors in the challenge for slimming pills) had contacts with officials of the French Treasury to assess the regulatory framework for a potential acquisition of Abivax. Rumours unconfirmed and undenied by Eli Lilly, but which had already helped push the French biotech's share price to an all-time high at EUR 126.60 at the beginning of the month. The market's spotlight has been on Abivax since July, when the company announced positive results in the Phase 3 trial of Obefazimod, its main product in development for the treatment of ulcerative colitis. The data then sparked renewed investor interest, triggering a 500% rally in Paris in a single session on the back of assessments of the drug's commercial potential. Following the strong revaluation of the stock - which has jumped more than 1,300% since the beginning of the year - Abivax decided to submit an application to offer up to USD 400 million on the US market in American Depositary Shares. The company could be a very lucrative 'catch' for Eli Lilly, which is working to expand in several areas. Only in early December it completed the acquisition of Adverum Biotechnologies, a US developer of gene therapies, expanding its pipeline in ophthalmology.