Astellas to Buy Iveric Bio for $5.9B in Age-Related Blindness Play
BIOMARKER
1. Astellas Pharma plans to acquire Iveric Bio for $5.9 billion to strengthen its focus on blindness and regeneration.
1. This acquisition, subject to approval by shareholders and regulators, is Astellas' largest to date.
3. Astellas will acquire multiple programs from Iveric, including Avacincaptad Pegol (ACP, also known as Zimura) for Geographic Atrophy (GA) secondary to Age-Related Macular Degeneration.
4. Astellas already has a GA candidate in its pipeline, currently in Phase I.
5. Iveric's investigational complement C5 inhibitor is under priority review by the FDA, with a PDUFA goal date of August 19.
6. If approved, ACP will compete with Apellis’ Syfovre, the first approved treatment for GA, which generates potential sales of around $2.63 billion per year.
7. ACP and Syfovre are designed to slow the progression of the age-related, blindness-causing condition rather than cure it.
8. ACP is expected to generate revenue to replace the anticipated decline in sales of Xtandi, a prostate drug by Astellas and Pfizer, which will lose its patent protection in the next few years.
9. Astellas and Pfizer are expected to earn a combined revenue of over $2 billion this year.
10. The year 2023 is showing signs of being a strong year for pharma mergers and acquisitions, with other companies like GSK and Sanofi also making significant purchases.