Incyte acquires Ariad’s European operations in $140 million deal
pharmafile | May 10, 2016 | News story | Manufacturing and Production, Research and Development, Sales and Marketing | Ariad, Incyte, Operations, buy out, european, iclusig, leukaemia, out-license
Incyte (NASDAQ: INCY) has entered into an agreement with Ariad Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ARIA) that will see the company acquire Ariad’s European operations, as well as being granted the exclusive rights to develop and commercialise leukaemia drug, Iclusig (ponatinib).
Incyte will acquire 125 new staff across medical, sales and marketing teams as part of the deal, which will see Ariad receive an upfront payment of $140 million, with the potential for tiered royalties and milestone payments on future sales and indications for Iclusig.
The drug is approved for the treatment of patients with chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) and Philadelphia-positive acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) in patients with the T315I mutation. It is the first treatment approved in such an indication for in this specific mutation.
Under the terms of the deal, Iclusig will continue to be licensed in the US market by Ariad while Incyte gain control of the drug in Europe. However, Ariad will retain buy back rights to Iclusig including repaying the upfront and milestone payments. This provision cannot be exercised before two years, of after six years, from the closing of this transaction, which is expected on or about June 1 2016.
Hervé Hoppenot, CEO at Incyte, says: “The acquisition of Ariad’s European operations is a unique and strategic opportunity for Incyte, which will further establish our medical and commercial footprint in Europe. Adding the Ariad team’s experience, talent, resources and relationships to our existing European organisation accelerates our planned global expansion and leaves us well-positioned to maximise the potential future European launches from our rich development portfolio.”
Paris Panayiotopoulos, president at CEO at Ariad, comments: “The decision to divest our European operations and out-license the commercial rights to Iclusig in Europe is one of the key outcomes of our ongoing strategic review.” He also indicated that the company was pleased to be “significantly strengthening our financial position and maintaining future strategic optionality with a potential buy-back of Iclusig.”
Sean Murray
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