Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc has decided to buy Enobia Pharma Corp for $1.08 billion, the news reports said.
The maker of a drug for a rare blood disease said it will pay $610 million in cash upfront for Enobia and $470 million in addition if certain regulatory and sales goals are achieved. Both the pharmaceutical companies expect to complete the deal in the first quarter of 2012.
The Montreal-based Enobia’s main drug, asfotase alfa aims to treat patients with hypophosphatasia which causes skeletal deformity, severe muscle weakness and organ damage. Currently, the therapy is in the second of three trials typically required for the U.S. regulatory approval.
In September, the Food and Drug Administration approved Alexion’s Soliris, chemically known as eculizumab for a typical hemolytic uremic syndrome, a rare genetic blood disease that damages vital organs.
Alexion will pay for the dealwith cash on hand and $300 million in bank debt. As of September 30, the drugmaker has $445 million in cash and short-term investments.
The pharmaceutical company said it will provide a 2012 forecast in February including one-time expenses related to the acquisition. Goldman Sachs is acting as Alexion’s financial adviser and Ropes & Gray LLP as its legal counsel.
Meanwhile, Bank of America Merril Lynch is a financial adviser to Enobia and WilmerHale is acting as its legal adviser.
Alexion Pharmaceuticals is the developer and distributor of Soliris, a drug used in treating the ultra-rare disorders hemolytic-uremic syndrome and paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria.
