Sanofi will launch public offers to acquire all shares, including ADSs, warrants and convertible bonds of Ablynx. News of the deal will no doubt come as a great disappointment to Novo Nordisk, which recently stepped up its efforts to buy Ablynx with a second offer valued at around 2.6 billion euros.

This will have been one of the main assets that first attracted the attention of Novo Nordisk and then Sanofi, with the latter in partnership with a number of biotechs targeting the blood disorders market. This month has seen a spike in multibillion-dollar deals in biotech, with USA -based Celgene paying $9 billion for cancer specialist Juno Therapeutics, and several experts predicting a bumper year for M&A. Last week, Sanofi agreed to buy US hemophilia specialist Bioverativ for $11.6 billion, its biggest deal for seven years and a major play to strengthen its presence in treatments for rare diseases. However, the biotech, whose CEO Edwin Moses recently told us "our business plan revolves around being a sustainable, independent business, " rejected the approach, stating the proposal "fundamentally undervalues" the company, its pipeline, its platform and its strong growth prospects. We generate significant cash flow. S

o it appears that Sanofi must have said the right things - or offered the right money - to persuade the Ablynx Board of Directors to sell up. The Belgian group specialises in the research of novel drugs based on so-called nanobodies found in the immune systems of llamas and alpacas, for which it partners with several of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies. Stocks under Consideration: Activision Blizzard, Inc. (ATVI), Philip Morris International, Inc. (PM) State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System raised its stake in Activision Blizzard by 3.5% in the third quarter. It is positive, as 37 investors sold ATVI shares while 205 reduced holdings. 93 funds opened positions while 240 raised stakes.

Despite rejecting the advances of Novo Nordisk earlier this month, a decision that led to a 60% jump in Ablynx's stock, the biotech has voted unanimously in favor of being acquired Sanofi. By adding Ablynx and Biovertiv to its business, Sanofi has strengthened its rare blood disorder platform and is also providing more investment into the area. In a surprise announcement this morning, Belgium biotech firm Ablynx revealed that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by French pharma major Sanofi. In Paris, Sanofi shares were at 72.83 euros, down 0.88 percent. This latest purchase of Ablynx is seen as a good strategic fit for Sanofi, particularly in the wake of its Biovertiv acquisition. Pricing considerations were offset by relief that Sanofi was finally taking action to improve its drugs portfolio, following its past failure to land big deals. Last week, Sanofi agreed to buy USA haemophilia specialist Bioverativ for $11.6bn (£8.2bn), and US-based Calgene also recently said it would buy cancer specialist Juno Therapeutics for $9bn.