GENEVA, Switzerland, Jan. 24 (UPI) -- A lack of takers in the auction to sell Swiss firm Serono means it might have to drop its $15 billion asking price.
According to a report published Tuesday in the Wall Street Journal, Serono's hopes for a sale dimmed after a number of drug companies that had considered a deal failed to submit a bid by last Friday's deadline.
The biotechnology firm had been asking as much as $15 billion in cash, the report said.
Drug giants GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis and Pfizer had all been in talks with Serono but declined to submit bids mostly due to the high asking price, the newspaper said.
Potential buyers have been largely lured by Serono's top-selling drug for multiple sclerosis Rebif, the report said, which racked up more than $1 billion in sales last year.
