OK so you thought the title of the other thread was out of date BUT unfortunately there is no way to edit thread titles.

So here is a new title

This one has got the charts at the top again & has a link to the old one.
http://www.moneyam.com/InvestorsRoom/posts.php?tid=5021

Hangon be happy if you are a shareholder, if you are a shorter go and cry in your beer!!

Halifax, sorry I should have said - just because I know, I suppose I left off . . . . OXB is a significant holding of mine and the sp today is about my average. I have no axe to grind, other than it irritates me ( whatever the stock) that unsubstantiated rumours are pushing stocks, only for them to be dashed later.
( or vice verse)
Of course it's possible there will be an OXB-Bid!
- But true for every company. However, my reason for dismissing this one is that we have nearly 9+months to run before the results are expected and "due dilligence" can only be done when this "major issue" is known. Sure, Sanofi sp has risen 5% (so the rumours say!) but then OXB is up 25% - on volumes that are pretty close to 1:1 (Buys to Sells) - just where is the RNS?

It is reported there is a rumour - well, well. well.

If there is a Bid and If it's anywhere near 50p - - - then I shall be v.happy - but I'd still prefer to have a "real-one", rather than a lot of wind....which is my suspicion.

This whipping=-up of sentiment was common in the days leading to the Dot-Com fall and it would be a pity if a good company was caught-up in this, for it's g'teed that it's small investors that will lose out, paying too much too soon . . .shall we say?

The same whipping was the driving force of house-prices and that is set to destroy many lives - many on a recent TV programme have lost 100k which will take them a long time to repay. My own home is paid-for so movement in price is of no concern to me - but I still worry for others being manipulated by those that are making money for little work.

Halifax, are you a holder?
What's yr experience of the Company [OXB]..?
I don't short stocks, although I reserve the right to do. So far I've resisted.

Hangon a word of advice dont believe everything you read in the newspapers or see on the TV.
iF you are really a shareholder then why are you talking about shorting their shares . You seem somewhat confused.

Halifax. You mentioned "shorting" - I have said I don't short.
-that's hardly being confused.
OXB rose 2% early today.

I don't believe what I read this weekend, either (thanks); - but it seems everyone else does - and some punters are paying 30% more than the price last week.

And some are buying large amounts if this doesn't come of there will be tears.

COMPANIES - INTERNATIONAL: Sanofi hopes lift Oxford
By Salamander Davoudi in London, Financial Times
Published: Feb 12, 2008


Oxford BioMedica shares jumped 17 per cent yesterday on the back of speculation that the UK biotechnology company is about to be bought by Sanofi Aventis, its French partner.

Both Sanofi and Oxford BioMedica declined to comment.

Analysts believe any offer for the company would - at its lowest - be about the 50p level, valuing the business at about 280m ($546m). This is less than the 518m ($751m) Sanofi could have to pay the biotech company under the terms of a licensing deal for TroVax, a cancer vaccine being developed for renal, prostate and colorectal cancer.

Navid Malik, an analyst at Collins Stewart, said: "Sanofi Aventis has committed about 350m and if everything is successful they are never going to pay this when the company is so cheap at the moment."

Shares in the company have fallen more than 60 per cent in the past six months. Analysts believe Sanofi Aventis could be waiting for a final safety review for TroVax, due in the next few months.

Paul Cuddon, an analyst at KBC Peel Hunt, said: "There may have to be a data trigger, they may be waiting for the final TroVax safety review before they do a deal and this is coming fairly soon."

Oxford BioMedica is also expecting phase I/II data for ProSavin, its gene-based therapy for Parkinson's disease this year. Phase Three data for Trovax will not be known until 2009.

A deal between the two companies has long been expected. Sanofi's cancer products are ageing. Acomplia, its new obesity treatment, has blockbuster potential but has been delayed by US regulators, while Plavix, its blood thinner, faces generic competition.

Shares in Oxford BioMedica rose 3p to 22p.

Driver, I think you are right, but those that bought below 20p will sell into this ungainly rush - they will make a few bob and those that are still buying (now), will wish they'd waited. Interesting that FT couldn't get anything out of the two companies - surely a denial is overdue? . . . but it is only two days ( following a poorly researched Rumour from the Mail on Sunday ( I think- DYOR).
Anyone that follows OXB would be very surprised - for the reasons I put forward already.
I suppose the FT has to report the sp movements; even though it's tailing off, now. Probably by Friday we shall know What's What.
The Trovax conclusion isn't expected until earliest =end-2008.
I hold.

Hangon: as soon as an RNS is published about a possible offer, the sp will shoot up - literally within seconds. Judging from the huge volume of trades in the past couple of days, compared with normal, I reckon something could be behind these rumours.

Thanks for the various articles posted above. I came across this today, from a US site:

Oxford Biomedica Shares Surge On Takeover Speculation - from cnn.com

Toya it* is the same news, following a silly article this weekend, as already posted. and it's confused as it mentions 50p would save Sanofi money then quotes a UK Broker suggesting 70p is their target - so Sanofi would need to bid 40% more than 50p - it would save them very little and increase their Risk. They have a partnership and presumably are/were happy with the risk/reward.

Furthermore, it's part-way through the third day and sill NO official RNS -


Today the sp is static at 27p -

Repeatedly posting/reading the same news is not "evidence" - it is still possible there will be a Bid - it's a free Market, but OXB has always been pretty good at keeping its secrets - for example the deal with Sanofi last summer was a bolt from the blue.
Of course, shares were higher then, so no sp-rash because the RNS spelled it like it was - cash up-front and a partnership.
Now we are playing the long-game, hoping the PhIII trials are satisfactory and anticipating good news by the end of 2008. But this is far from certain as additional Trials may be added by OXB ( to secure a better final deal?) - OR the Regulator should something go wrong ( Grief, hope-not!).

The only information we need "now" is something from OXB itself, via RNS.

Everything else is hot air - either way - let's look at the facts: There is no RNS supporting this sp rise. Not yet at least, now wait for me to be proved wrong - but as a holder 50p would be very nice after so many years. Even 40p would tempt me to sell, since Cash is King right now.
PS.I've done nicely with Woolworths - all we need now is some action in the shops!

*that link will switch you out of MoneyAM - you need a separate "window" -

Hangon: the link is as set up by MoneyAM - it doesn't appear in a separate window: when you've clicked and read simply click the back arrow to take you right back to this page.

Also: last summer's deal was not a surprise to anyone who had been following the company. The way these drugs are developed is usually with a big pharmaco. See link below (and then back-arrow to bring you back here!) - there had been talks going on for months to secure a co-developer.

Article of November 2006 signalling in talks re Trovax deal

strange stuff again this morning ..... trades show almost no buys and a preponderance of AT sales ..... with sp now down 2p, perhaps a time to buy, though for myself, i have enough

Toya - I agree it was no surprise ( Sanofi-2007) . .. but the details/amount were out of the blue - there were no "rumours" as such - hence my feeling that what we witnessed this week was manipulation.
Shares gives OXB a "buy" at 18p ( can't argue at that level, although less would be better), and still the sp falls -
-rather confirms my view....or....

would be very interesting to know the performance of ALL shares recommended either as buys or sells over say a 12 month period .... always worth reading about, but the mag has to write about something every week

Just a bit of profit taking by the looks of it those that bought in at 18p-ish before the next hike in the sp. 50p looks on the cards.

I reckon it's possible. A number of large Buys came in near the end of the day, which is possibly encouraging

but with Dow down quite heavily and with London to follow suit,
it's possible that it's possibly not encouraging at all - lol!

Somebody likes OXB:

Oxford Biomedica said Cubana Investments bought 30.59 mln shares in the company representing 5.70 pct stake of the total voting rights. Speculations are rife that the gene therapy company is in a bid situation with media reports saying French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi-Aventis might be looking to acquire it.

not exactly new news, but in a very dodgy market OXB is doing just fine and am happy to stay put rather than cash in the profit as i have with several other stocks this morning and yesterday