The largest pharmaceutical company in Britain has signed a deal to buy a French company that specializes in rare diseases for more than $1 billion. This is part of its efforts to boost the pipeline of drugs.
AstraZeneca agreed to purchase Amolyt Pharma. The biotechnology company is focused on endocrine disorders and backed up by Novo Holdings. Novo Nordisk’s controlling shareholder.
Amolyt was designed to support Cambridge-based company’s late-stage drug pipeline and its franchise in bone metabolism through the acquisition of Eneboparatide. This drug is in phase III trial for hypoparathyroidism. Hypoparathyroidism is a rare condition where the parathyroids glands in neck produce an insufficient amount of parathyroid hormonal. This deficiency can result in “significant dysregulations” of calcium, phosphate and other nutrients, leading to serious symptoms and complications such as chronic renal disease.
The disease affects approximately 107,000 people across the European Union, and 115,000 Americans, with about 80 percent of them being women. It is one of the most common rare diseases.
Marc Dunoyer (71), the chief executive officer of Alexion – AstraZeneca’s rare diseases business – said that there was a “significant” need for alternative therapies to existing treatments, as these did not address the hormone deficiency. He said that eneboparatide could help to reduce the debilitating effects of low parathyroid hormonal levels and prevent the risk of excessive calcium intake.
Early trial data indicated that the drug could normalise serum calcium levels, and end the dependence on daily calcium supplements and vitamin D supplements.
AstraZeneca will acquire Alexion in 2021, for $39 billion. This is its largest acquisition. The group created a new therapeutic division, along with oncology, biopharmaceuticals and respiratory and immune products.
AstraZeneca’s latest deal will see the company pay $800m upfront, with a potential future payment of $250m based on regulatory milestones.
Amolyt is based both in Lyons and Boston in the US. In January of last year it raised $138M in a funding round led by Intermediate Capital Group. The London-listed investment firm was backed by existing shareholders including Novo Holdings.
Naveed SIDDIQI, 57, a senior partner and board director at Novo Holdings and a board member of Amolyt, stated: “Amolyt, a European company of exceptional quality, was created to meet a medical need that is underserved and is led by a management team with a proven track record in biotechnology success.”
AstraZeneca is one of the largest UK listed companies. It was created in 1999 by the merger of Astra from Sweden and Zeneca from Britain. The share price of AstraZeneca has soared due to the revival of the company’s medicines portfolio and pipeline over the last decade.
Sir Pascal Soriot (64), its Chief Executive since 2012, is seeking to maintain its growth by investing in research and development, as well as acquiring promising assets from other companies. AstraZeneca acquired Icosavax in December for $1.1 billion. This acquisition gave AstraZeneca access to two vaccines in the late stages of development that could help treat severe respiratory diseases in older adults.
AstraZeneca shares were down 56p or 0.5 percent at £104.02 by the close.