A company that makes drugs for rare blood disorders hopes to diversify beyond the core focus of its development efforts by spending more than $1 billion to buy another firm.
Boston-based Alexion Pharmaceuticals said Tuesday that it would spend $1.4 billion to acquire South San Francisco, California-based Portola Pharmaceuticals. Shares of Portola were up about 130% on the Nasdaq when markets opened Tuesday, while shares of Alexion were down 4.5%. The deal received unanimous approval from both companies’ boards of directors.
Alexion stressed that the acquisition would help to diversify its existing portfolio of drugs. The deal comes at a time when Alexion is anticipated to lose patent protection in the coming years for Soliris (eculizumab), by far its top-selling drug, with sales of more than $3.9 billion in 2019. By contrast, its second biggest seller is Strensiq (asfotase alfa), whose 2019 sales were $592.5 million, while the longer-acting drug to succeed Soliris, Ultomiris (ravulizumab-cwvz), had sales of $338.9 million. Amgen has sought to challenge the patent protection on Soliris and is developing a biosimilar version, ABP 959, currently in Phase III development.
Soliris is approved for several diseases – paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH), atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome (aHUS), neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) and generalized myasthenia gravis (gMG) – while Ultomiris is approved for PNH and aHUS. Both drugs are complement C5 inhibitors. In addition to Strensiq, which is approved for hypophosphatasia, Alexion also markets Kanuma (sebelipase alfa), for lysosomal acid lipase deficiency. Portola markets Andexxa (coagulation factor Xa [recombinant], inactivated-zhzo), used to reverse the effects of the anticoagulant drugs rivaroxaban and apixaban; and Bevyxxa (betrixaban), used to prevent venous thromboembolism.
“The acquisition of Portola represents an important next step in our strategy to diversify beyond C5,” Alexion CEO Ludwig Hantson said in a statement. “Andexxa is a strategic fit with our existing portfolio of transformative medicines and is well-aligned with our demonstrated expertise in hematology, neurology and critical care.”
In a note to investors, Cowen analyst Phil Nadeau wrote that while the synergies between Alexion’s orphan drug business and Portola’s critical care business were not immediately apparent, there is “‘near complete’ overlap” between Alexion’s aHUS and NMOSD critical care call points and the 2,100 target accounts for Portola’s Andexxa.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
In addition to ongoing clinical development of Andexxa, Portola’s pipeline also includes additional programs that it has for indications beyond coagulation disorders. These include cerdulatinib, a SYK/JAK inhibitor in Phase II development for cutaneous T-cell lymphoma and peripheral T-cell lymphoma, as well as for follicular lymphoma. Meanwhile, Alexion has several development programs for Soliris and Ultomiris in neurology and nephrology, as well as newer drugs like ALXN1840, CAEL-101, AG10 and ACH-4471.
Photo: Kritchanut, Getty Images
