Ra Pharma shares more than double on $2.1 billion takeover approach

US biotech firm Ra Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: RARX) saw its shares roar ahead 103% to $46.14 in pre-market trading today, on the news that it has agreed to a takeover by Belgium’s largest pharma firm UCB (Euronext Brussels: UCB), whose shares edged up 1.5% to 14.42 euros in early afternoon activity.

The boards of directors of both companies have unanimously approved the transaction, which remains subject to approval by Ra Pharma shareholders and to obtaining antitrust clearance and other customary closing conditions.

Founded in 2008, Ra Pharma is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company leveraging a proprietary peptide chemistry platform to develop novel therapeutics for the treatment of serious diseases caused by excessive or uncontrolled activation of the complement system, a critical component of the innate immune system.