Biogen to acquire rare inherited retinal disease drug developer

4 March 2019

The growing interest in gene therapies was further confirmed by US Biotech major Biogen (Nasdaq: BIIB), which has reached an agreement to acquire a UK-based clinical-stage gene therapy company developing treatments for rare inherited retinal diseases, at a price of $25.50 per share in cash.

The offer values Nightstar Therapeutics (Nasdaq: NITE), a company formed six years ago by Syncona, at $877 million, which represents a 4.5x multiple on Syncona's original investment of £56.4 million and an internal rate of return (IRR) of 72%. The sale of Nightstar will generate £254.6 million of proceeds for Syncona.

Nightstar’s US traded shares soared 66.42% to $25.23 in pre-market trading today.

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