Daily Brief Health Care: Celltrion Healthcare , Global Health (Medanta), Immix Biopharma Inc, Abbvie Inc, Abbott Laboratories, Johnson & Johnson and more

• It’s finally happening:  biopharmaceuticals developer and producer Celltrion Inc (068270 KS) will acquire Celltrion Healthcare (091990 KS).  
• Inc will issue 0.4492620 new shares for each share in Healthcare. The swap prices of ₩148,853 for Inc and ₩66,874 for Healthcare are firm. 
• Celltrion Pharm (068760 KS) is excluded from the original three-way merger plan, but is expected to be merged with the enlarged Inc/Healthcare entity around July 2024.

• On 17 August, Celltrion Inc announced that it will merge with Celltrion Healthcare. The merger ratio is 0.449262 Celltrion Inc share for each share of Celltrion Healthcare.
• There was a negative surprise which was that Celltrion Pharm will not be included as part of the three companies merger which has been promised in the past several years. 
• Overall, we believe that this merger will have a positive impact on Celltrion Inc and Celltrion Healthcare’s share prices. 

• Global Health (Medanta) (MEDANTA IN) delivered robust revenue growth and profitability in Q1FY24. Revenue grew 27% YoY and 9% sequentially to INR7.9B. EBITDA margins expanded 250 bps YoY to 25.1%.
• All the key operating metrics including inpatient and outpatient volume, ARPOB, and ALOS improved. However, occupancy declined to 58.1% in Q1FY24 from 60% in Q1FY23 on increased bed capacity.   
• Medanta and DLF will develop a 400 bed multi-specialty hospital in Delhi. Ongoing expansion projects are on track to increase the bed capacity to 3,500–4,000 in FY25 from 2,725.

Immix reported Q223 results, which were largely as expected. Operational highlights included rolling positive newsflow for CAR-T therapy NXC-201 and interim results for IMX-110 in colorectal cancer patients. With the ramp-up in clinical activity, mainly the NEXICART-1 trial, as well as the two ongoing Phase Ib/IIa trials for IMX-110, management reported R&D expenses of $2.2m, notably higher than $0.6m in the previous year. At end June 2023, cash was $12.7m, supported by a $5m (gross) at-the-market fund-raise in H123. Based on our estimated cash burn, we continue to forecast an operating cash runway into Q224, consistent with management guidance. As we update our FY23 and FY24 expense estimates based on the H123 run rate, roll forward our model and update the net cash figure, our valuation adjusts to $81.1m versus $83.3m previously.

• AbbVie managed to surpass the revenue expectations as well as the earnings expectations of Wall Street.
• Skyrizi and Rinvoq are exhibiting exceptional growth in immunology, with sales for both treatments increasing over the previous year.
• Skyrizi and Rinvoq are now approved across ten significant indications and are projecting combined revenue growth this year.

• Abbott Laboratories managed to exceed the revenue expectations as well as the earnings expectations of analysts.
• Organic sales showed steady growth, led by solid performances in Medical Devices, Established Pharmaceuticals, and Nutrition.
• Abbott’s various segments, such as Nutrition, Established Pharmaceuticals, Diagnostics, and Medical Devices, reported solid growth and significant achievements in product innovations.

• Johnson & Johnson managed to exceed analyst expectations in terms of revenue as well as earnings.
• It was a strong quarter for Johnson & Johnson, with market-leading performance and significant advances in their innovative Pharmaceutical and MedTech pipelines.
• The company reported solid sales and earnings growth in the second quarter of 2023, raising expectations for the year.