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January 28, 2020 Bioscience Notebook

Alexion completes $930M Achillion acquisition; NanoViricides’ stock soars on coronavirus fears

PHOTO | New Haven BIZ Achillion’s New Haven office.
By Natalie Missakian

Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced Tuesday that it has completed its $930 million acquisition of Achillion Pharmaceuticals.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission greenlighted the deal last week, granting an early termination of the 30-day waiting period set by federal antitrust laws. Achillion shareholders overwhelmingly approved the merger just before Christmas. 

"The acquisition of Achillion adds two clinical-stage Factor D inhibitors to our growing pipeline, representing important continued momentum in expanding and diversifying our portfolio and advancing our mission of transforming the lives of people with rare diseases," Alexion CEO Ludwig Hantson said in a statement. 

Both companies target rare, immune-related diseases associated with the complement system, which is part of the immune system. Achillion has been developing its lead drug danicopan as combination therapy with Alexion’s blockbuster Soliris to treat paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria, a rare, life-threatening blood disease. Alexion said Tuesday it will continue development of Achillion's oral Factor D inhibitor portfolio. 

"We look forward to the expertise the Achillion team brings to Alexion, which, combined with our own complement biology and rare disease development and commercialization experience, will enable us to collectively accelerate progress of the development programs," Hantson said in the statement.  

It’s still not clear what the deal will mean for Achillion’s New Haven office or the company’s 60 employees, about half of whom remained in the Elm City when Achillion moved its headquarters to suburban Philadelphia in early 2019.

Alexion spokeswoman Megan Goulart said Tuesday afternoon that the company is still working on its plan to integrate the two companies. "Our priority right now is maintaining continuity in all of the development programs that are underway," she said. 

Founded in the 1990s, both companies were among a group of New Haven’s first biotechnology firms collectively known as the “Seven Sisters.”

Alexion relocated its headquarters to Boston in 2018 but still has about 500 employees in New Haven. It is planning a $10 million expansion of its 100 College St. facility. 

Alexion paid $6.30 a share for Achillion stock in the all-cash deal, which was announced in October. Shareholders may earn up to an additional $2 per share based on certain milestones, such as U.S. Food & Drug administration approval for danicopan. 

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Fears over the spread of a deadly respiratory virus in China may have shaken Wall Street last week — but it had the opposite effect on potential investors in companies like Shelton’s NanoViricides Inc. 

The company, which uses nanotechnology to develop antiviral drugs, was one of several biotechs that saw their stock prices soar amid news of the coronavirus’ spread. There were more than 4,500 confirmed cases of the virus and 106 deaths linked to the outbreak as of Tuesday, CNN reported. 

After spiking and then falling last week, NanoViricides shares shot up more than 80 percent on Monday, closing at $15.80. That was up from Friday’s close of $8.45. It was trading at $10.67 as of mid-morning Tuesday. 

Nanotechnology refers to the manipulation of matter at the atomic level. NanoViricides President Anil Diwan told Fox Business’ Lisa Kennedy Montgomery last week that the nanomedicines being developed by his company could work faster than a vaccine to curtail the virus, although he acknowledged the biotech is still a long way from bringing such a treatment to patients. 

NanoViricides’ lead drug candidate is a topical cream for shingles, but the company says it also has drugs targeting a range of viral diseases in its pipeline,  including bird flu, HIV and Ebola. 

The company, which has been trying to raise cash to advance the shingles treatment into human trials, announced Friday that it netted about $7.78 million in a secondary public offering after selling 2.5 million shares of common stock at $3 a share. 

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New Haven’s Biohaven Pharmaceuticals said federal regulators have cleared one of its drugs to take part in a first-of-its kind ALS trial being staged by Massachusetts General Hospital. 

Also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) afflicts about 30,000 Americans. The trial will use specialized statistical tools to evaluate several potential ALS drugs simultaneously. Its aim is to accelerate the search for successful treatments, which have been elusive. 

New Haven BIZ reported in September that the drug, verdiperstat, was among the first five chosen for the study, from among 30 potential new treatments. The FDA decision will allow the study of the drug to go forward.

Verdiperstat inhibits MPO, an enzyme that increases oxidative stress and inflammation in the nervous system, both of which are linked to the onset and progression of ALS, according to Biohaven. Biohaven licensed the drug from AstraZeneca in 2018. 

The trial is being conducted by Mass General’s Sean M. Healey & AMG Center for ALS.

Contact Natalie Missakian at news@newhavenbiz.com

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