Free Republic

Bristol-Myers Squibb is buying cancer drugmaker Celgene in a cash and stock deal valued at $74 billion, the companies announced Thursday. Under the agreement, Celgene shareholders will receive one Bristol-Myers Squibb share and $50 in cash for each share held, or $102.43 per share, a premium of 53.7 percent to Celgene's Wednesday close. Shares of Celgene surged 28 percent in midmorning trading, to near $85 per share, while shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb fell 11 percent. "Together with Celgene, we are creating an innovative biopharma leader, with leading franchises and a deep and broad pipeline that will drive sustainable growth and...

A Democratic super PAC with close ties to Senate leaders plans to spend $3 million on last-minute advertising aimed at saving Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), who faces an unexpectedly difficult race against a self-funding Republican businessman. The Senate Majority PAC will spend money on statewide television advertising bashing Bob Hugin (R), the retired pharmaceutical CEO who has spent $15 million on his own campaign. “Bob Hugin is a Trump sycophant who is funding his campaign off the millions he made raising prices on cancer drugs as a pharma CEO,” said Chris Hayden, a Senate Majority PAC spokesman. Hayden said the...

The race for a U.S. Senate seat in New Jersey is a statistical dead heat, with incumbent Democrat Bob Menendez leading Republican challenger Bob Hugin by two percentage points, according to a Stockton University poll released today. Menendez leads with 45 percent to Hugin’s 43 percent five weeks before the Nov. 6 election, according to poll numbers of likely voters who say they lean toward one candidate or the other. Libertarian Murray Sabrin pulls 3 percent, while other candidates and undecided voters total 8 percent. Menendez, who was reprimanded by a Senate ethics panel after corruption charges were dismissed following...