AstraZeneca to buy rare-disease specialist Caelum in potential $500 million deal

Wed Sep 29 2021
Lucy Harlow (4100 articles)
AstraZeneca to buy rare-disease specialist Caelum in potential $500 million deal

AstraZeneca will take full control of Caelum Biosciences in a deal worth up to $500 million, the drugmaker said on Wednesday, as it sharpens focus on rare-disease drugs following its purchase of Alexion Pharmaceuticals.

Alexion had taken a minority stake in New Jersey-based Caelum in 2019 before it was acquired by AstraZeneca for $39 billion earlier this year.

The Anglo-Swedish drugmaker will pay $150 million to buy the remaining stake it does not already own in Caelum and potential milestone-based payments of up to $350 million.

Through the acquisition, AstraZeneca said it would accelerate Caelum’s late-stage trial of its drug candidate to treat AL amyloidosis, a rare, life-threatening disease that damages the heart and kidneys.

The treatment, which aims to improve organ function in affected patients, had in June received a fast-track status from U.S. health regulators.

“With a median survival time of less than 18 months following diagnosis, there is an urgent need for new treatments for this devastating disease,” Alexion CEO Marc Dunoyer said in a statement.

About 20,000 people across the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Britain live with the disease, AstraZeneca said, citing a study.

Tags AstraZeneca, US
Lucy Harlow

Lucy Harlow

Lucy Harlow is a senior Correspondent who has been reporting about Commodities, Currencies, Bonds etc across the globe for last 10 years. She reports from New York and tracks daily movement of various indices across the Globe