Takeda to buy gout specialist URL Pharma for $800m
pharmafile | April 16, 2012 | News story | Research and Development, Sales and Marketing | R&D, Takeda, acquisition, gout
Takeda is set to purchase URL Pharmaceuticals for $800 million, helping offset the loss of its blockbuster ulcer drug Prevacid.
Takeda will make an upfront payment of $800 million and future performance-based contingent payments.
The acquisition will contribute significantly to the firm’s revenues, operating income, and free cash flow from 2013, Takeda said.
Pending the satisfaction of customary closing conditions, the deal is expected to close within 60 days.
US-based URL Pharma saw revenues of nearly $600 million last year that was led by the $430 million in sales from Colcrys (colchicine), which is licensed to treat and prevent gout flares.
The firm said Colcrys complements Takeda’s position in the gout marketplace with its drug Uloric (febuxostat), used to lower blood uric acid levels in adults with gout.
The acquisition will contribute to revenues immediately, Takeda said, with estimated 2012 net sales of more than $550 million coming from the deal. The firm also expects continued growth of Colcrys sales through the product’s lifecycle.
“This acquisition expands Takeda’s gout treatment portfolio and leverages our expertise in primary care,” said Douglas Cole, president of Takeda Pharmaceuticals USA.
“Gout affects more than eight million Americans, and the prevalence of gout is rising,” he added.
“We are pleased to have URL Pharma’s Colcrys added to our product portfolio and look forward to further realising our goal of helping patients by providing multiple treatment options to manage the symptoms of acute and chronic gout in the US.”
Takeda said the acquisition would allow them to offset revenue losses from the patent expiry of their ulcer drug Prevacid in the US, which had a global income of around 200 billion Yen ($2.5 billion) until its US patent loss in 2009 decimated sales.
Takeda also faces life without its $4 billion a year diabetes drug Actos, which loses its US patent in August.
The firm said in October that it would move away from making any big acquisitions after it paid $13.6 billion for the Swiss firm Nycomed in May last year.
Ben Adams
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