Bayer AG said it didn’t know the results of its blood-thinner drug trial, which was halted this week due to a lack of efficacy, before selling $5.75 billion of bonds to investors.
The company has faced questions from investors and analysts, who have asked whether it knew about the outcome of the study, which tested the anti-thrombotic drug asundexian, prior to the debt sale.
“The results of the OCEANIC-AF study on Asundexian were not yet available when the bond was priced on Thursday,” a spokesperson for Bayer said in an email. “All relevant information and risks were included in the bond prospectus.”
Bayer shares and bonds have tumbled this week after the drug development setback and a major jury verdict over the weedkiller Roundup raised the risk that the company will have to tap all of, or perhaps even more than, the $16 billion set aside for related lawsuits.
Bayer Slumps Most Ever After Roundup Verdict, Drug Setback
Bayer sold the bonds across three to 30-year tenors on Nov. 16. The notes have fallen by as much as 1.6 cents on the dollar and the spread has widened by 25 basis points over US Treasuries since pricing, according to data from Trace.
Bayer spoke with investors after halting the drug study, according to people familiar with the matter. The spokesperson for the company declined to comment further.
“Not surprisingly, the huge trial loss and the discontinuation of one of Bayer’s most promising drugs in its pipeline had a profound effect on its investors,” said CreditSights analysts Andrew Brady and Jarah Cotton in a note dated Nov. 22. “Investors are stinging from the $5.75 billion bond placement.”
--With assistance from Tasos Vossos and Colin Keatinge.
