May round-up of pharma and biotech M&A activity

2 June 2017

While Thermo Fisher Scientific's $7.2 billion (NYSE: TMO) acquisition of Netherlands-incorporated CMO Patheon (NYSE: PTHN) was by far the biggest deal in the pharma and biotech space in May, it was not the only one.

Japanese drugmaker Sosei Group (TYO Mothers Index: 4565) and Ireland-incorporated biopharma firm Horizon Pharma (Nasdaq: HZNP) were among the companies acquiring assets, while the merger of Chinese healthcare investment firms Frontline BioVentures and WuXi Healthcare Ventures has created a venture capital giant in the region.

Company	Takeover candidate	Value	Why?
Sosei Group	MiNA Therapeutics	£35 million ($45.3 million) in return for a 25.6% equity share and an exclusive option to potentially acquire MiNA	To acquire MiNA's MTL-CEBPA in advanced liver cancer and an RNA activation platform that can be applied to other gene targets
Horizon Pharma	River Vision	Upfront cash payment of $145 million for all shares of River Vision, plus potential future milestone and earn-out payments contingent on regulatory milestones and sales thresholds	To acquire teprotumumab (RV001), a fully human monoclonal antibody (MAb) currently in development for thyroid eye disease (TED), a rare, autoimmune inflammatory disorder
Norgine	Merus Labs International	$342 million	To strengthen Norgine's position as the ‘go-to’ European specialist pharma company
Thermo Fisher Scientific	Patheon	$7.2 billion	To acquire a leading CMO provider, enhancing Thermo Fisher's value proposition for customers, create significant value for its shareholders and further accelerate the company's growth
Bioverativ	True North Therapeutics	Upfront payment of $400 million plus assumed cash and additional payments of up to $425 million contingent on development, regulatory and sales milestones	To acquire worldwide rights to True North’s lead candidate, TNT009, a first-in-class monoclonal antibody in development to treat cold agglutinin disease, and TNT020, a discovery-stage, follow-on monoclonal antibody that targets activated C1s with the potential for less-frequent dosing and subcutaneous administration
Frontline BioVentures	WuXi Healthcare Ventures	A merger creating a company with combined assets under management of 5.5 billion renminbi ($800 million)	To create a venture capital giant dedicated to the biopharmaceutical sector and with a trans-Pacific focus

This article is accessible to registered users, to continue reading please register for free. A free trial will give you access to exclusive features, interviews, round-ups and commentary from the sharpest minds in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology space for a week. If you are already a registered user please login. If your trial has come to an end, you can subscribe here.

Try before you buy

Free

7 day trial access

Take a Free Trial

All the news that moves the needle in pharma and biotech
Exclusive features, podcasts, interviews, data analyses and commentary from our global network of life sciences reporters.
Receive The Pharma Letter daily news bulletin, free forever.

Become a subscriber

£820

Or £77 per month

Subscribe Now

Unfettered access to industry-leading news, commentary and analysis in pharma and biotech.
Updates from clinical trials, conferences, M&A, licensing, financing, regulation, patents & legal, executive appointments, commercial strategy and financial results.
Daily roundup of key events in pharma and biotech.
Monthly in-depth briefings on Boardroom appointments and M&A news.
Choose from a cost-effective annual package or a flexible monthly subscription

The Pharma Letter is an extremely useful and valuable Life Sciences service that brings together a daily update on performance people and products. It’s part of the key information for keeping me informed

Chairman, Sanofi Aventis UK