Shire acquires Meritage Pharma, strengthening rare diseases pipeline

24 February 2015

In a second acquisition this year, Ireland-headquartered Shire (LSE: SHP) revealed today that it has taken control of USA-based Meritage Pharma, a privately-held biotech company, for an upfront fee of $70 million and additional contingent payments based on the achievement of development and regulatory milestones. Further details were not disclosed. Shares in Shire dipped 0.6% to £51.60 in Tuesday afternoon trading.

Just last month, Shire announced it would acquire all the outstanding shares of loss-making NPS Pharma for $46.00 per share in cash, for a total consideration of around $5.2 billion. Shire obtained the rights to acquire Meritage in connection with its $4.2 billion acquisition of ViroPharma that completed in 2014 (The Pharma Letter November 11, 2013). ViroPharma acquired an option to buy Meritage in a $7.5 million deal back in 2011. It also agreed to pay up to $175 million for clinical and regulatory milestones when it inked the option for the US biotech.

Transaction adds Phase III-ready rare GI disease product

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