Friday July 4, 12:20 AM
Shire pays out £260m for Jerini
By Salamander Davoudi
Shire (LSE: SHP.L - news) , the FTSE 100 specialist pharmaceuticals company, on Thursday widened its footprint in human genetic therapies with
the acquisition of Jerini (Xetra: 678747 - news) , the German biotechnology company, for €328m (£260m).The deal is the latest in a series of high-priced transactions in which larger drug companies have paid substantial premiums to acquire biotechnology companies to shore up their pipelines. The acquisition gives Shire access to Firazyr, Jerini's lead product for the treatment of hereditary angioedema, which is characterised by acute attacks of painful swelling in the hands, feet, face, larynx, and abdomen. Shire will pay €6.25 per share in cash for each Jerini share, a 71 per cent premium to the Berlin-based company's price at close of business on Wednesday. In addition Shire will invest €21m in newly issued Jerini shares in order to provide the company with enough cash to start the imminent launch of Firazyr in Europe. Shares in Shire rose 11p, to 811p, giving it a £4.54bn market capitalisation. Karl Bradshaw, analyst at Morgan Stanley (SPU - news) , said: "We believe this acquisition makes sense and fits well with Shire's continued strategy to expand its human genetic therapy business." Shire said it would fund the deal out of its cash reserves and the company expects the acquisition to boost earnings by the second half of 2010. Firazyr is forecast to have peak annual global sales of $350m (£176m) to $400m and Angus Russell, chief executive, said it complemented Shire's focus on drugs that can be marketed to specialist doctors using a small sales force. Last May, Firazyr was recommended for marketing approval by the European Medicines Agency. However, the US Food and Drug Administration rejected the drug's initial application in April. Shire said it was confident the US would eventually approve the drug. Firazyr is expected to go on sale in Europe this year. The drug has been granted an orphan status. This will protect it against competition for some time. Hereditary angioedema is estimated to affect one in 50,000 people, with about 10,000 patients in the EU and 7,000 in the US and Canada.
Click here for more from FT.com
|
Send Article by Email
