Aurinia Pharmaceuticals reverses decline after report on potential M&A interest
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Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AUPH) reversed an earlier decline and is now up 3.4% after a report indicated Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) could potentially look to target the company.
Aurinia (AUPH) was down earlier at least partly after the company presented at two conferences today, though no M&A was mentioned. Now the shares are moving higher after a Stat News report that Biogen is working with Goldman Sachs to find potential targets for the company.

The list of candidates include Aurinia (AUPH), BioHaven Pharmaceuticals (NYSE:BHVN) and Amylyx Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMLX), according to the report. BioHaven shares ticked up 0.8%, while Amylyx jumped 7.6%.

Aurinia Pharma (AUPH) presented earlier at the JPMorgan Healthcare conference and a H.C. Wainwright conference.
Aurinia has been the subject of rampant takeover speculation in recent months after Bloomberg reported in late October that
Bristol-Myers (NYSE:BMY) indicated interest in acquiring AUPH. Some investors were hoping that a deal may come to fruition at the JPMorgan Healthcare Conference, where other deals have been announced in past years.
Early last month Betaville reported that the AUPH was said to be close to deciding on a preferred bidder in its strategic review. There has also been speculation that GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE:GSK) may have interest, though GSK denied the report.
Some of the Aurinia (AUPH) takeout speculation seemed to be debunked when Aurinia announced a mixed shelf offering, sending AUPH shares down 30% on Nov. 22, as some investors saw the offering as a sign no deal would be happening.
AUPH surged on Dec. 2 after Novartis (NYSE:NVS) said during its R&D day earlier that it plans to focus on smaller, "bolt-on" deals despite the $20B it will receive from the sale of its Roche stake, according to a tweet from a pharmaceuticals reporter.

Last month, Aurinia Pharma (AUPH) was upgraded at Oppenheimer, which also cited its ongoing M&A story.