Astellas Pharma Acquires Iveric Bio for $5.9 Billion

Astellas Pharma, a Japanese drugmaker, announced the acquisition of Iveric Bio, a pharmaceutical company that is currently in the late stages of developing a geographic atrophy drug.

The acquisition is valued at $5.9 billion, and under the terms of the agreement, Astellas US Holding's wholly-owned subsidiary, Berry Merger Sub Inc., will acquire all outstanding shares of Iveric Bio for $40 per share in cash, representing a 22% premium to Iveric's closing price on April 28th. The acquisition will be financed through a combination of debt and cash.

After the acquisition of Iveric Bio by Astellas Pharma for $5.9 billion, Iveric Bio will become an indirectly wholly-owned subsidiary of Astellas. This transaction has been unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both companies.

"We are pleased to reach an agreement with Iveric Bio, a company with exceptional expertise in the R&D of innovative therapeutics in the ophthalmology field," Naoki Okamura, President and CEO of Astellas, said in a company news release. "Iveric Bio has promising programs including avacincaptad pegol, an important program for geographic atrophy (GA) secondary to age-related macular degeneration (AMD), and capabilities across the entire value chain in the ophthalmology field. We believe that this acquisition will enable us to deliver greater value to patients with ocular diseases at high risk of blindness."

Back in February, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted a new drug application (NDA) for avacincaptad (ACP), which is intended to be used for the treatment of geographic atrophy (GA) that occurs secondary to age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The NDA received priority review status, and its Prescription Drug User Fee Act goal date has been set for August 19, 2023.