Japan's Astellas Pharma agrees to buy Iveric Bio for $5.9bn

May 01 (Nikkei) - Japan's Astellas Pharma said on Monday it agreed to buy U.S. drugmaker Iveric Bio Inc for about $5.9 billion in its biggest acquisition, giving it access to a range of ophthalmology treatments.

Through Berry Merger Sub Inc, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Astellas U.S. Holding, the Japanese company agreed to acquire Iveric for $40 per share in cash, Astellas said in a release.

The price is a 22% premium to Iveric's $32.89 closing price on April 28.

New Jersey-based Iveric, formerly branded as Ophthotech, is focused on developing treatments for retinal diseases. The company's key asset is ACP, currently in trials for treating geographic atrophy, the advanced stage of macular degeneration, a common cause of vision loss in the elderly.

ACP targets the C5 protein that is suspected in causing the growth of scarring associated with geographic atrophy.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration in February granted priority review of ACP, and if approved, the treatment could be commercialised by the end of this year. ...continue reading

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