Shire's acquisition of ViroPharma will add $831m in revenue by 2018, says GlobalData

Ireland-based drugmaker Shire’s (LSE: SHP) buy-out of US orphan drug company ViroPharma (Nasdaq: VPHM) for $50 a share will significantly boost its six-year growth projection, according to research and consulting firm GlobalData.

According to GlobalData, ViroPharma will add revenues of $831 million to Shire by 2018 as a result of the deal announced last week (The Pharma Letter November 11). Including the acquisition, Shire can expect growth of $2.6 billion and total revenues of $7.3 billion in 2018, putting the company one place behind US drugmaker Allergan (NYSE: AGN) in the global pharma rankings. It said the transaction is worth a $4.2 billion making it the largest in the company’s history.

The principal asset driving the deal is ViroPharma’s Cinryze, a C1 esterase inhibitor, approved by the US Food and Drug Administration to prevent hereditary angioedema (HAE) attacks. The orphan-designated Cinryze generated sales of $327 million in 2012, a figure which is expected to rise to $700m by 2018, making it Shire’s third highest-selling therapeutic.