Gilead to Pay $1.4 Billion for Hepatitis Drug Maker MYR GmbH of Germany
December 10 2020 - 8:29AM
Dow Jones News
By Joseph Walker
Gilead Sciences Inc. said Thursday it will acquire Germany's MYR
GmbH and its new hepatitis drug for about $1.4 billion, reported as
1.15 billion euros, in the company's latest deal to jump-start
revenue growth.
The all-cash deal, expected to close in the first quarter, will
expand Gilead's offerings of hepatitis treatments.
MYR, a 35-person company based in Bad Homburg, received
conditional approval from European regulators in July to market its
drug Hepcludex for treatment of hepatitis D, a viral disease that
can lead to liver cirrhosis, cancer and death.
The disease affects at least 12 million people globally and
about 230,000 in the U.S. and Europe, Gilead said. MYR is currently
selling the drug in France, Germany and Austria and plans to launch
in more countries next year, Gilead said. The company intends to
seek U.S. approval in the second half of 2021.
Under the terms of the deal, Gilead will pay MYR shareholders up
to $362 million, reported as 300 million euros, in additional
milestone payments upon a U.S. approval, Gilead said.
"We look forward to working with the team at MYR to realize the
full potential of Hepcludex for patients with [hepatitis D]
worldwide," Gilead Chief Executive Daniel O'Day said in a
statement. "This will build on the work that Gilead has been doing
for almost two decades to innovate and improve therapies for viral
hepatitis."
Gilead, based in Foster City, Calif., is among the world's
largest drugmakers for HIV and hepatitis C therapies. However, the
company has faced slowing growth in recent years amid pricing
pressures in the U.S. and battles with rivals for market share.
Mr. O'Day has used Gilead's considerable cash reserves to make a
series of acquisitions and partnerships over the past year to beef
up its product pipeline. They include a $21 billion deal in
September to buy Immunomedics Inc., maker of a prized breast-cancer
medication.
Gilead received an unexpected revenue boost this year from sales
of remdesivir, sold under the brand name Veklury. Gilead originally
developed the antiviral drug for Ebola, which then became the first
medication approved in the U.S. to treat Covid-19. Remdesivir also
faced controversy in some quarters because of mixed effectiveness
results in clinical trials.
Hepatitis D can be transmitted only to patients who are already
infected with hepatitis B, which is spread through bodily fluids,
blood and semen. In the U.S., hepatitis D is uncommon, and most
cases occur among patients who have traveled or migrated from
countries with high rates, according to the U.S. Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention.
Gilead said about 60% of patients in a study of 90 patients had
significant reductions in detectable virus after treatment with
Hepcludex and another antiviral drug.
Write to Joseph Walker at joseph.walker@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 10, 2020 08:14 ET (13:14 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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