The Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis reinforces its position in kidney disease with the acquisition of the American Chinook Therapeutics for an amount of up to 3.5 billion dollars (3.2 billion euros). The Swiss group has signed an agreement, approved unanimously by the boards of directors of the two groups, which provides for a cash payment of 3,200 million dollars at the closing of the transaction, to which an additional payment of up to 300 million will be added. dollars, Novartis said in a statement.
This price, which is equivalent to $40 per title, represents a premium of 67% compared to Chinook’s closing price on Friday, June 9, and 83% compared to its sixty-day average, the US laboratory specifies in a separate press release. . . This takeover bid is subject to “the usual closing conditions”, specifies Novartis, which expects to complete the operation in the second half of the year.
“Significantly” complete the portfolio of treatments for kidney disease
Seattle-based Chinook Therapeutics is leading two drugs in late-stage clinical development for immunoglobulin A (IgA) nephropathy, a rare kidney disease. This disease “mainly affects young adults and potentially leads to dialysis or kidney transplantation,” Vas Narasimhan, chief executive of Novartis, was quoted as saying in the press release. Up to three in ten patients see this disease progress to kidney failure and require dialysis within 10 years.
This acquisition should allow Novartis to “significantly” complete its portfolio of treatments for kidney disease, the Swiss group underlines in the press release.
Source: BFM TV
