FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - Speculation about advanced takeover negotiations with Novartis catapulted Morphosys shares to their highest level since July 2021 on Monday afternoon. The shares of the biopharmaceutical SDax company jumped to 58.50 euros at times. Most recently, they rose by almost 35 percent to EUR 57.00 amid strong trading volumes. According to traders, takeover rumors had recently fueled the share at the end of January.

As the news agency Reuters reported on Monday, citing two people familiar with the matter, there are advanced takeover talks between the Swiss pharmaceutical group Novartis and the biotech company Morphosys. Novartis has beaten out the US pharmaceutical group Incyte, which has also submitted a bid for the SDax company, it was reported. Neither Novartis, Morphosys nor Incyte wanted to comment to Reuters.

According to market expert Andreas Lipkow, there is currently "a veritable hunt for promising small and medium-sized companies" in the oncology sector. Following Pfizer's takeover bid to Seagen shareholders at the beginning of last year, the sector has gained additional momentum.

However, Lipkow has doubts as to whether the takeover of the drug researcher could have been carried out easily, given the current, comparatively low share price. The proportion of shares in free float is quite high, so the takeover price would have to be made palatable to shareholders with a corresponding premium, he said.

In November, study data on the drug and great hope for pelabresib sent the share price plummeting. As a result, there was enormous uncertainty on the market as to whether the cancer drug would be approved. As a result, Morphosys' share price halved within just eight trading days. In December, detailed pelabresib study data at the annual conference of US hematologists provided a new boost. Since then, investors have again been betting that the drug will receive US approval for the treatment of blood cancer and continue to be a blockbuster. With the current price increase on this day, Morphosys shares have already gained almost 70 percent in the new year 2024./ck/stk