Sen. Gillibrand fundraises off of potential Scott Brown run in NH

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) sent out a fundraising email on behalf of Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) after former Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) suggested he might run for Senate in New Hampshire.

"If he enters this race, Jeanne will immediately become the top target of Karl Rove and the Tea Party Super PACs," Gillibrand wrote in the fundraising email sent out on Friday. "Jeanne needs our help now to prepare for the attacks from Brown and his allies. They’ve launched a 'Granitebomb' campaign to fight back."

Less than 24 hours earlier Brown was asked about a possible campaign in New Hampshire. Shaheen is up for reelection in 2014.

"I don't think I'm done with politics, but I'm not going to rule out anything right now because I really haven't thought a heck of a lot about it," Brown said, according to CNN.

In her fundraising email, Gillibrand described Brown, who lost reelection to now-Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) in 2012, as a "billionaire-backed Republican."

"You read that right: A billionaire-backed Republican from Massachusetts who voted against equal pay and critical job-creation bills wants to take on Jeanne Shaheen – a tremendous champion for our progressive values," Gillibrand writes in the email.

"Brown raised $37 million in 2012 and spent it on partisan negative attacks against Elizabeth Warren."

Gillibrand's goal in the email is to raise a total of $100,000 to "send a message to Scott Brown and his Tea Party allies that we have [Shaheen's] back."

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UPDATE 1-Optimer shares rise after report names Glaxo, Cubist as potential buyers

buyers@

* Co aims to get as much as $1 bln - report

* Optimer could get $15-$16/shr - analyst

* Shares up 18 pct

(Adds comments from an analyst, details)

April 2 (Reuters) - Shares of Optimer Pharmaceuticals Inc rose as much as 24 percent after a Bloomberg report said GlaxoSmithKline Plc and Cubist Pharmaceuticals Inc were among those interested in buying the antibiotic maker.

Optimer, the maker of diarrhea drug Dificid, aims to get as much as $1 billion in a possible auction, the report said, quoting two unnamed sources. (http://link.reuters.com/cys96t)

The report also named AstraZeneca PLC and Japan's Astellas Pharma Inc as potential buyers.

Robert W. Baird & Co analyst Brian Skorney said the $1 billion target implied a price of about $18 per share, which, he felt, would be difficult to achieve.

"I think we can see a $15 to $16 (per share) deal get done," Slorney said, calling the jump in Optimer's stock price a probable overreaction.

Tuesday's gains in the stock price eclipsed the 13 percent jump it had seen on Feb. 27, when the company first said it would explore a sale after replacing its CEO.

The shares were up 18 percent at $13.84 in afternoon trade on the Nasdaq, well above their closing price of $12.13 on Feb. 27.

"I think bankers are probably leaking some information to try drum up some more enthusiasm to get a higher deal value than what is already on the table," Skorney said.

Analysts have previously identified Pfizer Inc, Viropharma Inc and Cubist as potential suitors for Optimer.

"Anyone who has commercial infrastructure selling hospital-based antibiotics could be a bidder here," Skorney said.

"Astellas is already partnered with Optimer and since they already own most of the worldwide rights, it makes sense to consolidate everything."

Similarly, he said, Pfizer Inc had a number of antibiotics that would go generic over the next couple of years, so bidding for Optimer would make sense for it too.

Skorney said the cost, and the benefit, of the acquisition would be trivial for companies like Glaxo and Johnson & Johnson , but Forest Laboratories and Cubist would have to pay over 10 percent of their current valuation for Optimer.

Optimer spokesman David Walsey was unavailable for comment.

Cubist spokeswoman Julie DiCarlo said the company did not comment on speculation or rumors related to mergers and acquisitions. GSK declined to comment.

Dificid, which treats adult patients who contract infectious diarrhea in hospitals, accounted for $62.4 million in sales in 2012. The company is expected to generate sales of $310 million from the drug by 2017, according Thomson Reuters data.

Optimer is also testing to see if the drug can prevent diarrhea in patients under 18 years and whether it can treat it in patients undergoing bone marrow transplants.

(Editing by Sreejiraj Eluvangal)

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Poll: New Jersey voters divided on potential Christie presidency, but weight not a factor

New Jersey voters are divided over whether Gov. Chris Christie (R) would make a good president, but the governor's weight isn't a factor, according to a new poll.

The Quinnipiac Poll released Tuesday found that 41 percent said Christie would make a good president, while 44 percent say he would not make a good president. Forty-six percent of voters say Christie should run for president in 2016, the poll also found. Meanwhile, 47 percent say he should not run.

Christie has repeatedly been mentioned as possible presidential candidate. Observers have also speculated that the New Jersey governor's weight might play a factor in the governor deciding whether to run for president and, if he decided to run in 2016, the strength of his candidacy.

But New Jerseyans don't care about their governor's weight, according to the poll. Four percent said they are "enthusiastic" about a presidential candidate who is overweight and 64 percent said they are comfortable with an overweight candidate. Just 17 percent say they have "reservations" about a candidate who is overweight, and 4 percent said they are outright uncomfortable with the idea.

Seventy percent of New Jersey voters approve of the job Christie is doing, the poll found, while 23 percent disapprove. Christie's approval rating has trended around the 70 percent range for the last three months, according to Quinnipiac.

Those high job-approval numbers spill over into the New Jersey governor's race, where Christie holds a lead of 90 percent to 4 percent among Republicans and 69 percent to 15 percent among independents. The Quinnipiac poll found Democratic state Sen. Barbara Buono leads Christie among Democrats 53 percent to 29 percent.

Broken down by gender, Christie leads 65 percent to 21 percent among men and 55 percent to 29 percent among women.

The Quinnipiac poll also surveyed New Jerseyans on same sex marriage. The Supreme Court began hearing oral arguments on a same-sex marriage case on Tuesday. The poll found 64 percent of those surveyed support same-sex marriage legislation, while 30 percent oppose it.  Seventy-two percent support a same-sex marriage referendum on the state ballot in November, while 22 percent opposite a referendum.

While the top New Jersey Republican enjoys high approval ratings in the state, more New Jersey voters also approve of the job President Obama is doing than those who disapprove. Fifty-four percent say they approve of Obama's job performance, while 42 percent say they disapprove. In February, the poll found 57 percent approve while 40 percent disapprove.

The poll was conducted between March 19 and 24 among 1,129 registered voters in New Jersey. The poll had a margin of error of 2.9 percentage points.

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Baxter closes deal for potential hemophilia drug

Baxter International Inc. has closed its acquisition of a potential hemophilia treatment from the French drugmaker Ipsen and Inspiration Biopharmaceuticals Inc. in a deal that could be worth more than $180 million.

Baxter, based in Deerfield, Ill., had said in January it agreed to buy the drug, labeled OBI-1, and related manufacturing operations.

Ipsen said Thursday that Baxter agreed to pay $50 million upfront, up to $135 million in milestone payments and a percentage of global sales.

OBI-1 is being studied as a possible treatment for people with acquired hemophilia A.

Hemophilia is a rare, inherited disease that affects blood clotting. Some types of hemophilia affect only males, but type A is found in both men and women. Acquired hemophilia is not present from birth and can occur in patients with no family history of hemophilia.

OBI-1 has been designated an orphan drug in the United States and the European Union, meaning it will get years of marketing exclusivity if it is approved. U.S. regulators have also agreed to speed up their review of the drug.

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