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梯瓦32亿美元收购Auspex布局CNS疾病研究领域

  1. Auspex
  2. CNS
  3. 收购兼并
  4. 梯瓦

来源:生物谷 2015-04-01 16:35

本周,以色列著名制药巨头梯瓦公司宣布以32亿美元的价格将罕见病药物研发公司Auspex收入囊中。这一协议距Auspex公司公布其治疗亨廷顿氏症药物临床三期积极研究数据过了仅仅不到三个月。

2015年4月1日讯 /生物谷BIOON/ --本周,以色列著名制药巨头梯瓦公司宣布以32亿美元的价格将罕见病药物研发公司Auspex收入囊中。这一协议距Auspex公司公布其治疗亨廷顿氏症药物临床三期积极研究数据过了仅仅不到三个月。

根据协议,梯瓦公司将以每股42%的溢价收购Auspex公司的股价。这也意味着梯瓦公司将获得Auspex公司负责开发的一系列中枢神经系统相关罕见病药物。分析人士认为,此次梯瓦公司获得的最大好处就是Auspex公司在研的SD-809,这种药物是一种胺转运体(VMAT2)的小分子抑制。Auspex公司认为SD-809能够调控患者大脑中多巴胺的含量以治疗亨廷顿症等罕见疾病。而市场对于这一药物也是充满期待,分析人士认为SD-809上市后其销售峰值将达到2亿-3亿美元之间。此外,Auspex公司还有用于治疗特发性肺纤维化药物SD-560处于临床研究阶段。无论从哪方面将,Auspex公司都可算得上是难得的优良资产,这也难怪众多分析人士都认为32亿美元的价格对于梯瓦公司来说真是物有所值。

最近一段时间,梯瓦公司可谓是内忧外患。公司的摇钱树--治疗多发性硬化症药物copaxone即将面临仿制药市场的强力挑战,同时公司近年来一系列研发活动也未能取得太大成就。在这一背景下,梯瓦公司收购Auspex就显得格外引人注目。梯瓦公司这家久未有大动作的生物医药巨头或许将借此展开一系列雄心勃勃的大计划。有了Auspex的强力加盟,梯瓦公司将可以在中枢神经系统疾病领域开展更深入的研究。(生物谷Bioon.com)

详细英文报道:

Three months after Auspex Pharmaceuticals ($ASPX) excited the market with news that its Phase III study of a new drug for controlling the involuntary movements triggered by Huntington's disease had succeeded, Teva ($TEVA) has swooped in to buy the company in a deal that values the biotech at $3.2 billion.

Teva is paying $101 a share to get its hands on SD-809, a drug that cleared late-stage testing by providing evidence that the drug clearly improved patients' Total Maximal Chorea (TMC) scores compared to placebo. That study included about 90 patients. The therapy--deutetrabenazine--is a small molecule inhibitor of vesicular monoamine 2 transporter, or VMAT2, which is designed to regulate the levels of dopamine in the brain.

Simply put, SD-809 is a deuterated version of tetrabenazine--Xenazine, already in use for Huntington's--that is designed to break down more slowly in the body, allowing physicians to give it less often in lower doses for maximum efficacy. Concert Pharmaceuticals, which recently completed its own IPO, has been one of the biotech leaders in the deuterium R&D field.

Teva is paying a 42% premium on Auspex's Friday close. Its 52-week low is $14.75, providing another example of the big premiums being paid these days for biotech assets as well as the upside for some of the investors who have been pouring into the sector over the past two years. Auspex went public about a year ago at $12 a share.

Auspex has been working on drugs based on its deuterium R&D platform, a method that's used to improve the efficacy and safety profiles of new drugs. The La Jolla, CA-based biotech is expected to post further Phase III data on tardive dyskinesia for its lead drug this summer. The drug is also in the clinic for Tourette syndrome. Auspex has also been adding to its pipeline. SD-560 (deuterated pirfenidone) is in development for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

Bernstein's Ronny Gal looked at the deal today, flagging concerns that Teva is angling to tackle a drug that is about to go generic with a new drug that may be hard to sell to U.S. payers. "Auspex was acquired in an auction (per comment on call) and SD-809 is essentially a second generation product for a $200-$300M drug," Gal adds in a note to investors. "The $3.2B is a fair price (including M&S synergies) for this initial drug/indication. The value created in this deal is basically in what Teva would do with the pipeline. Teva mentioned additional compounds for Huntington, MS, IPF, migraine and pain. For us, this is the major driver here. Teva essentially now has a library of 'NTE-like' molecules in neurology to follow."

Over at Sterne Agee, meanwhile, Shibani Malhotra notes that the buyout highlights Teva's intent to ink a string of new deals. " We remain buyers as we believe further and potentially transformational deals are likely to provide a catalyst for TEVA shares as management continues to execute on it's strategy to reinvigorate Teva's growth trajectory and enhance shareholder value."

The buyout puts Teva right where it needs to be: Prepping for a new drug application for a CNS therapy. Teva has struggle mightily in recent years to advance new drugs as it faces major league competition to its big franchise for the MS drug copaxone.

"We look forward to accelerating the development and commercialization of the Auspex portfolio based on our infrastructure, capabilities and strong commercial and R&D position in CNS. As we have outlined recently, one of our key priorities for 2015 is to support Teva's mid to long-term growth and create value for our shareholders with business development opportunities that are closely aligned with our core therapeutic areas. This transaction represents a first major step with regards to that commitment and we expect to continue this focus in the future," said Erez Vigodman, the CEO of Teva.

 

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