Dive Brief:
- Baxalta has entered into an agreement with Denmark-based Symphogen for exclusive rights to co-develop and commercialize six early-stage immuno-oncology drugs.
- Baxalta will pay $175 million up front in a potentially 1.4 billion euro deal, assuming clinical and regulatory milestones are met.
- New of this deal breaks as Baxalta considers another, much larger agreement to be acquired Shire for an estimated $32.6 billion. Reports from the Wall Street Journal indicate negotiations are in advanced stages.
Dive Insight:
Baxalta is shoring up its immuno-oncology portfolio even as talks with Shire continue to unfold.
The deal with Shire is expected to be part stock, part cash, with a per-share value of roughly $47 to $48 dollars and a cash component of roughly $20. Neither company has publicly confirmed these figures, and concerns remain over whether a deal would complicate the tax-free status of Baxalta's spin-off from Baxter in May 2015.
Overall, the Symphogen deal appears to be a positive move for Baxalta and doesn't appear big enough to impact the Shire-Baxalta deal. However, Baxalta has resisted Shire's previous takeover attempts, making a successful conclusion to the merger talks uncertain.