Horizon Therapeutics plc shares (NASDAQ:HZNP) jumped 27.3% to $100.29 after the company disclosed being in "highly preliminary" discussions about takeover interests expressed by Amgen Inc., Janssen Global Services LLC and Sanofi SA. The companies have until Jan. 10, 2023, to report whether they intend to make an offer or not.
With enrollment set to finish any day in Selecta Biosciences Inc.’s Dissolve II study testing SEL-212 in chronic refractory gout (CRG), investor appetite runs high in the space, as contenders line up to take on Horizon Therapeutics plc’s Krystexxa (pegloticase), the only product approved for CRG.
Seeking to accelerate the company's long-term growth through an expansion of its rare disease pipeline, Horizon Therapeutics plc said Feb. 1 it will buy Viela Bio Inc. for $3.05 billion, or $53 per share (NASDAQ:VIE). Once closed, the deal would add a new commercial-stage asset, Uplizna (inebilizumab), to Horizon's portfolio alongside its current lead products, Tepezza (teprotumumab) for the treatment of thyroid eye disease and Krystexxa (pegloticase) for uncontrolled gout. Dublin-based Horizon, which had $2.08 billion in cash at the end of 2020, borrowed $1.3 billion to help finance the transaction. Astrazeneca plc also enabled the deal by agreeing to divest its 26.7% share in Viela Bio for a profit of between $760 million and $780 million.
CEO Carsten Brunn said Selecta Biosciences Inc. has “not seen a material impact” from the COVID-19 pandemic and remains on track to report in the third quarter phase IIb data from a head-to-head trial comparing its refractory gout candidate, SEL-212, with Krystexxa (pegloticase), from Horizon Therapeutics plc, of Dublin.