AstraZeneca To Buy Fusion Pharma For Up To $2.4 Billion
Shares of Astra were little changed in early London trading on Tuesday. They are down around 5% over the last 12 months.
(Bloomberg) -- AstraZeneca Plc agreed to buy Fusion Pharmaceuticals Inc. for as much as $2.4 billion as it seeks to transform cancer treatment by replacing traditional methods like chemotherapy with more targeted approaches.
The UK drug company said it will pay $21 a share for Fusion, or $2 billion in cash upfront, plus a further $400 million depending on milestones being achieved. The full amount equates to a premium of 126% to Fusion’s closing price on Monday.
Shares of Astra were little changed in early London trading on Tuesday. They are down around 5% over the last 12 months.
Fusion is a clinical-stage biotech company developing next-generation radioconjugates — medicines that help deliver radioactive isotopes directly to cancer cells in a targeted way, minimizing damage to healthy cells. They can also enable access to tumors not reachable through external beam radiation.
Between 30% and 50% of patients with cancer today receive radiotherapy at some point during treatment, according to Astra.
Radioconjugates are relatively new treatments, with the first only approved in the US in 2018. Astra believes that alongside antibody-drug conjugates, radioconjugates will redefine cancer therapy.
One of Fusion’s most advanced potential new treatments targets metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. The potential treatment is in a phase 2 trial.
Astra said the deal will bring new expertise and pioneering research and development into the company, as well as manufacturing and supply chain capabilities in radioconjugates. Upon completion, Fusion will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Astra with operations in Canada and the US.
Deal Spree
It is the latest deal for Astra, which earlier this month agreed to buy Amolyt Pharma, a French company focused on developing treatments for rare endocrine diseases, for just over $1 billion. That acquisition will bolster the company’s rare-disease pipeline. In December, Astra stuck a $1 billion deal for the US vaccine company Icosavax, as well as the acquisition of cell therapy firm Gracell Biotechnologies.
European pharma companies have been on a series of acquisitions in recent months as they seek to bolster their pipelines. Transactions include GSK Plc’s purchase of Aiolos Bio Inc., Sanofi’s deal for Inhibrx Inc., and Novartis AG’s addition of MorphoSys AG. Drugmakers are seeking to bolster their pipelines with targeted acquisitions that often focus on specific drug candidates and are smaller in scale than the mega-deals seen in years past.
(Updates with shares and other details starting from the third paragraph.)
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