INSIDE THE DEAL
09 February 2021 By Allie Nawrat
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Tim Walbert, CEO chairman and president, Horizon Therapeutics
Image: Horizon Therapeutics
Dublin-headquartered Horizon Therapeutics has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Maryland-based Viela Bio. The offer involves Horizon acquiring all issued and outstanding shares of Viela for $53 per share in cash, which represents $3.05bn in fully diluted equity value or $2.67bn in net cash and cash equivalents.
The transaction is a two-step tender offer and it has been unanimously approved by both companies’ boards. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2021 once customary closing conditions have been satisfied.
“This acquisition represents a significant step forward in advancing our strategy – to expand our pipeline in order to accelerate our growth over the long term,” said Horizon CEO, president and chairman Tim Walbert. Horizon is particularly interested in Viela’s autoimmune and inflammatory disease pipeline.
“One of the reasons the Viela portfolio was attractive is that it complements our rare disease business and many of our therapeutic areas of focus, including rheumatology and nephrology,” says Horizon executive vice-president of corporate affairs and chief communications officer Geoffrey Curtis. Horizon’s rare disease medicines include Actimmune (interferon gamma-1b), Buphenyl (sodium phenylbutyrate) and Ravicti (glycerol phenylbutyrate).
“The acquisition made sense as it is a significant step forward in our transformation to an innovation-driven, high-growth biotech company,” continues Curtis.
Viela’s pipeline includes its approved medicine Uplinza (nebilizumab-cdon) for neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD), a rare disease of the optic nerve, spine, and brain stem. Uplinza was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in June 2020; it is the first and only B cell depleting humanised monoclonal antibody to be FDA-approved for NMOSD.
The company’s portfolio includes other four candidates in nine development programmes. “Each of these molecules target central pathways that are implicated in a wide range of autoimmune diseases,” explains Curtis. These include rare autoimmune neuromuscular disease myasthenia gravis, as well as rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus and lung injury associated with Covid-19.
Combining Viela’s promising portfolio with Horizon’s own successes in drug development and commercialisation “gives us tremendous potential to further help patients, their caregivers and physicians by bringing to market medicines that truly serve unmet needs”, notes Curtis. Horizon is keen to “maximise the full potential of Viela’s pipeline, including the pursuit of additional future indications”, stated Walbert.
“We believe that the combined pipeline, including the pursuit of additional potential indications, has the potential to yield innovative new medicines to treat autoimmune and severe inflammatory diseases,” added Viela CEO and chairman Bing Yao.
“Our collective R&D [research and development] expertise, coupled with Horizon’s commercial capabilities, has the potential to provide benefit to more patients with high unmet treatment needs.”
Horizon will not only be acquiring Viela’s pipeline; Walbert has been very clear that Viela’s R&D capabilities and staff will also move across once the deal is closed.
Curtis notes: “Horizon is committed long term to maintaining and building upon the current Viela presence in the Gaithersburg [Maryland, US] area.”
“We are pleased that Horizon recognises the value of our robust R&D pipeline, our commercial medicine Uplinza and our talented team,” concluded Yao.
For the latest pharmaceutical deals analysis, visit GlobalData's Pharmaceuticals Intelligence Centre.
DEALS ANALYSIS
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Pharma industry deals, as captured by GlobalData’s Pharmaceuticals Intelligence Centre, are up year-on-year (YoY) across all regions.
North America is leading in terms of deal value, but recorded the lowest YoY growth in deals volume at -42%. South and Central America, ranking last in terms of deal value, has seen the largest YoY change, with deal volumes increasing by 47%.
The volume of deals recorded by GlobalData also increased YoY in Asia-Pacific (32%), Europe (18%) and Middle East and Africa (33%).
Deal type | Total deal value (US$m) | Total deal count | YoY change (volume) |
Partnership | 471,044 | 17,999 | 22 |
Venture Financing | 225,755 | 17,996 | 90 |
Contract Service Agreement | 1,860 | 18,008 | 442 |
Equity Offering | 892,677 | 16,249 | 135 |
Licensing Agreement | 713,537 | 13,546 | 72 |
Grant | 298,713 | 988,661 | 229 |
Acquisition | 3,670,227 | 10,748 | -13 |
Debt Offering | 1,760,864 | 7,838 | 12 |
Asset Transaction | 430,495 | 6,063 | -48 |
Private Equity | 505,248 | 2,500 | 62 |
Merger | 173,278 | 679 | 1467 |
A breakdown of deals by type and volume shows a 1467% growth in mergers YoY, while acquisitions are down 13%, partnerships grew with 22% change YoY and asset transactions are down -48%. Financing deals have increased across some types, with venture financing up 90% YoY, equity offerings up 135% and debt offerings up 12%.
Private equity has seen 62% growth in number of deals YoY, while the number of grants recorded is up 229%. The number of contract service agreements recorded by GlobalData is up 442% YoY.
The most notable development apparent in GlobalData’s analysis of pharma industry deals by therapy area is the increase of deals in the field of infectious diseases. After remaining relatively steady over the past ten years, the number of recorded deals in infectious diseases increased significantly in 2020 to date, most likely due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on activity in the sector.
Note: All numbers as of 15 February 2021. Deals captured by GlobalData cover M&As, strategic alliances, various types of financing and contract service agreements.
For more insight and data, visit GlobalData's Pharmaceuticals Intelligence Centre.
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