Drug industry rumors of the week — Big Pharma throws credit cautions to the wind

Big name pharmaceutical companies are still scrambling to take advantage of market bargains during the economic crisis. With many of them seemingly undaunted by the global credit crunch, we may see some big M&A announcements in the near future.

Wyeth is reportedly making a play to acquire Dutch company Crucell, a developer and manufacturer of vaccines worth nearly $1.4 billion; Sanofi-Aventis is also said to be considering a bid for the vaccine maker.

Pfizer, always a favorite of drug industry bloggers when it comes to speculation, is again rumored to be searching for a big-time acquisition. If there were a time for the wounded top dog to come out of hiding it would be now, and it appears that Pfizer itself may agree. Merck and GlaxoSmithKline have also expressed continued interest in mergers this week.

The Financial Times reports that Actavis, an Icelandic company that has been making waves in the generic drug industry but that recently fell under scrutiny for its US manufacturing practices, is being put on the auction block by Icelandic entrepreneur Thor Bjorgolfsson, who took the company private less than two years ago but who has been hurt by Iceland’s recent financial struggles. Pfizer, Sanofi-Aventis, Novartis, and GSK are all speculated contenders.

Big Pharma has already been snapping up struggling biotech firms like flies, with Johnson & Johnson and GSK wrapping up purchases of Omrix Biopharmaceuticals and Genelabs Technologies just this month.