Dive Brief:
- Horizon Pharma, an Ireland-based specialty pharmaceuticals company, on Monday agreed to buy Raptor Pharmaceutical for $800 million, adding two approved rare disease drugs to its portfolio.
- Horizon will pay $9 per share to acquire Raptor, a 21% premium over Raptor's closing price last Friday.
- The companies expect the deal to close sometime in the fourth quarter this year.
Dive Insight:
Horizon hopes the acquisition of Raptor will grow its rare disease business, which accounted for almost half of Horizon's revenue over the first six months of 2016 on a pro forma basis.
Procysbi, approved in the U.S. for a rare metabolic disorder, and Quinsair, a drug for chronic pulmonary infections due to a bacterial infection in patients with cystic fibrosis, made up the bulk of Raptor's revenue. Company forecasts peg 2016 net sales at between $125 million and $135 million, according to a statement issued on the merger.
Raptor launched Quinsair, which is an aerosolized form of levofloxacin, in Germany and Denmark earlier this year and plans to launch the drug in Canada sometime this year.
Higher patient demand for Procysbi, first approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2013, helped drive up Raptor revenues by 37% in the second quarter, compared to the same period a year prior.
Horizon will also gain access to Raptor's pipeline, which includes a candidate for treatment of Huntington's disease that is currently in Phase 2/3 testing.
Horizon expects the deal to be accretive to earnings this year. The acquisition will be funded through external debt and cash on hand. Horizon had $425 million in cash as of June 30, 2016.