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Novartis to buy AveXis for $8.7 billion
KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)
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Summary
Pharma major Novartis said it has entered into an agreement to acquire Nasdaq-listed clinical stage gene therapy company AveXis Inc for $8.7 billion in cash. The transaction, which translated to $218 a share, was unanimously approved by the boards of both companies. AveXis has several ongoing clinical studies for the treatment of SMA, an inherited …
Pharma major Novartis said it has entered into an agreement to acquire Nasdaq-listed clinical stage gene therapy company AveXis Inc for $8.7 billion in cash.
The transaction, which translated to $218 a share, was unanimously approved by the boards of both companies.
AveXis has several ongoing clinical studies for the treatment of SMA, an inherited neurodegenerative disease caused by a defect in a single gene, Novartis said in a statement.
The Novartis offer represents a premium of 88 percent to AveXis’ closing price on April 6, 2018, and a 72 percent premium to the company’s 30-day volume-weighted average stock price.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted AVXS-101 Orphan Drug designation for the treatment of SMA as well as Breakthrough Therapy designation for SMA Type 1. A BLA filing with the FDA for AVXS-101 is expected in the second half of 2018 and approval and launch in the US is expected in 2019.
The FDA encourages drugmakers to develop treatments for rare diseases that affect 200,000 patients or fewer, by granting drugs “orphan” status. The designation provides drug developers with special development and market exclusivity incentives.
The lead AveXis gene therapy candidate, AVXS-101, has highly compelling clinical data in treating SMA Type 1, which is the number one genetic cause of death in infants, where nine out of ten infants do not live to their second birthday or are permanently ventilator dependent, the Novartis statement said.
It is estimated that one out of every 6,000-10,000 children born is affected by some form of SMA, added the statement.
Novartis CEO Vas Narasimhan said the proposed acquisition of AveXis offers an extraordinary opportunity to transform the care of SMA.
“We believe AVXS-101 could create a lifetime of possibilities for the children and families impacted by this devastating condition. The acquisition would also accelerate our strategy to pursue high-efficacy, first-in-class therapies and broaden our leadership in neuroscience,” he said, adding that Novartis stands to gain another gene therapy platform besides its own CAR-T platform for cancer, to advance a growing pipeline of gene therapies across therapeutic areas.
The transaction is expected to close in mid 2018, pending the fulfillment of the tender offer and all other closing conditions.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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