Roche may boost bid for Illumina after rebuff

Reuters – 23 hrs ago CHICAGO (Reuters) - Drugmaker Roche Holding AG may be willing to up the ante in its attempt to buy Illumina Inc., a disease fighter, after a recommendation that Illumina's shareholders reject its latest hostile offer, Roche said in a statement on Friday.

"We remain willing to consider additional value if given the opportunity to enter discussions and perform due diligence," said Severin Schwan, CEO of Roche Group.

Proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) said on Friday in its recommendation to reject the offer that Roche's $6.7 billion bid for San Diego-based Illumina undervalues the firm.

Schwan said Roche was disappointed over the recommended rejection of the bid for Illumina. But "we are pleased that ISS noted that Roche would seem to be an excellent partner for Illumina as the sequencing industry grows more intertwined with new drug development," he said.

Swiss-based Roche is the world's largest maker of cancer drugs and Illumina is a maker of machines that search the human genome for ways to defeat disease.

Roche bid $44.50 per share early in the year and bumped the offer to $51 at the end of March. Illumina, whose stock was listed at $52.33 per share at Thursday's close, rejected both offers. Roche said the latest offer represented an approximate $6.8 billion bid "on a fully diluted basis."

Roche also has nominated a slate of candidates who will seek election to Illumina's board of directors at the April 18 meeting and proposed certain other matters, the statement said.

(Reporting By Sam Nelson; Editing by Sandra Maler)

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Columbia University sues Illumina over DNA patents

Reuters – 1 hr 16 mins ago (Reuters) - Illumina Inc, a gene-mapping company facing a $5.7 billion hostile takeover bid by Swiss drugmaker Roche Holding AG, was sued by Columbia University on Monday for allegedly infringing five patents related to DNA sequencing.

According to the complaint filed in the U.S. District Court in Wilmington, Delaware, Illumina commercialized its so-called next-generation sequencing (NGS) products despite knowing about the patents, obtained between 2009 and 2012 and assigned to Columbia.

The university said its patents cover NGS technologies that allow rapid and precise DNA sequencing, which are particularly important in using individuals' genomic DNA sequence information as a basis for providing health care.

Illumina makes products that decode a person's entire genome. Spokesman Matt Benson had no immediate comment.

Each patent has several inventors, including Columbia chemical engineering professor Jingyue Ju, according to the complaint. The university is seeking royalties, triple damages and other remedies.

"Columbia is proud of the outstanding research efforts of its faculty and will defend its patented technology," university spokesman Robert Hornsby said.

The university filed its complaint hours after Roche extended its $5.7 billion cash takeover bid for Illumina. The bid values the San Diego-based company at $44.50 per share, but Illumina considers the offer "grossly inadequate.

Acquiring the company would give Basel, Switzerland-based Roche a leading position in gene sequencing, which could help better identify patients who might benefit from using particular drugs.

Illumina in 2011 posted profit of $86.6 million on revenue of $1.06 billion.

In its annual report, the company projected that expansion in the sequencing market and its product portfolio would drive demand for its technology over the next several years.

Analysts expect Roche to raise its takeover bid, and shares of Illumina have traded above $44.50 since the original bid became public on January 25.

In afternoon trading, Illumina shares were down 31 cents at $50.15 on the Nasdaq.

The case is Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York v. Illumina Inc, U.S. District Court, District of Delaware, No. 12-00376.

(Reporting By Jonathan Stempel in New York; Additional reporting by Caroline Copley in Zurich; editing by John Wallace and Gerald E. McCormick)

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