BRIEF—Eagle swoops in to buy Acacia Pharma

Eagle Pharmaceuticals is to buy British company Acacia Pharma, in a deal which values the firm at around $103 million, with Acacia stockholders due to receive around $0.75 in cash and 0.0049 of Eagle stock per share.

Following the deal, Eagle will gain possession of two marketed products, the sedative Byfavo (remimazolam) and the postoperative nausea and vomiting product Barhemsys (amisulpride).

Acacia said its financial condition has been negatively impacted by physical access limitations caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the board had therefore opted for a sale.

Eagle chief executive Scott Tarriff said: “This will be a very important acquisition for us, both financially and strategically.”

He added that Eagle was “well suited to drive uptake of these two new products, building from Acacia’s established foundation since its launch, through our experienced and specialised hospital-based sales organisation with minimal additional infrastructure.”

Eagle will also guarantee around $27 million of Acacia debt.