Elan, a US-listed drugs maker, has agreed to pay up to $693m for a bio-tech company focused on rare diseases as part of a wider series of dealmaking.
Elan is buying AOP Orphan Pharmaceuticals, which has a minority stake in Shield Therapeutics, a Switzerland-based specialty pharmaceutical company treating iron deficiency in the blood also backed by chocolate company Nestle’s corporate venturing unit, for $342.5m in cash and stock with up to another $351m in performance-related payments.
Separately, Elan has spun out its mid-stage neuropsychiatry drug ELND005 into a new company, Speranza Therapeutics. Elan is investing $70m in Speranza, with an option to contribute $8m more, to retain 18% of the spin-out. An undisclosed third party is contributing $20m for a 62% equity stake in Speranza, with management keeping the remaining shares.
The specialty pharma company,. Elan has also paid $40m for a 48% stake in Newbridge Pharmaceuticals, which has acquired regulator-approved drugs for marketing in Africa, the Middle East and Turkey. Elan has an option to buy out the rest for $244m in 2015.