AstraZeneca has agreed to buy the US-based biopharmaceutical company CinCor Pharma in a deal worth up to $1.8bn, as the UK pharmaceutical company is working to diversify its heart and kidney medicine offerings.
CinCor’s lead asset, baxdrostat, is the key to the deal. Baxdrostat is an experimental treatment for high blood pressure and chronic kidney disease. AstraZeneca seeks to combine baxdrostat with its own drug for kidney disease, Farxiga. AstraZeneca R&D executive vice-president Mene Pangalos said: “Acquiring CinCor supports our commitment to cardiorenal disease and further strengthens our pipeline with baxdrostat.”
AstraZeneca said it would buy all of CinCor’s outstanding shares for $26 per share in cash at closing, plus a non-tradable contingent value right of $10 per share in cash payable upon a specific regulatory submission of a baxdrostat product. This indicates a deal at nearly 121% premium to the US-based company’s closing price on the 6th of January.
AstraZeneca’s share price increased by 1% the day after the announcement.
The deal was the largest of several announced since the JPMorgan Healthcare Conference, the biggest annual gathering of the pharmaceutical sector, began in San Francisco. Analysts are forecasting a year of dealmaking in the sector, with major pharmaceutical companies taking advantage of the decline in biotech valuations.
Written by: Quynh Chi Le
Sources: Financial Times, Pharmaceutical Technology
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