Rumors of the acquisition of LY.US (LLY.US) stirred up the market, and the stock price of French biotech company Abivax (ABVX.US) rose sharply in response

The Zhitong Finance App learned that French biotech company Abivax (ABVX.US) was higher in the Paris stock market and the US stock market on Wednesday. Reports indicate that this stock price change stemmed from market speculation that diet drug giant LLY.US (LLY.US) might launch a takeover offer.

As a clinical-stage biotechnology company, AbiVax's core product, Obefazimod, is mainly used to treat inflammatory diseases such as ulcerative colitis. As of press release, the company's stock price has risen by more than 10% in the Paris stock market, corresponding to a market value rising to about 8 billion euros (equivalent to 9.3 billion US dollars), a sharp jump from the valuation of 500 million euros at the beginning of this year. Before the US stock market, the stock rose more than 9%.

“The core driver of this stock price fluctuation is market speculation about a potential acquisition deal,” said Damien Choplain, an analyst at Stifel.

In response, Eli Lilly stated, “We do not comment on business development activities.”

In fact, this is not the first time that the Paris-based company has been involved in takeover rumors. Financial intelligence agency Betaville previously published “unverified” market speculations about a possible takeover of Abivax twice in September and November, both driving up its American Depositary Receipt (ADR) price.

Back in July of this year, Abivax announced a major benefit: its once-daily oral obefazimod reached the main end point in both phase III clinical trials to treat ulcerative colitis. As soon as the news came out, the company's stock price immediately skyrocketed.