Alexion Pharma to acquire Achillion for $930m

Alexion Pharmaceuticals is to acquire immune-system specialist  Achillion for almost $1 billion dollars.

The acquisition of the biopharmaceutical company was announced in a  statement yesterday, October 16.

Achillion focuses on the development of oral small-molecule Factor D inhibitors to treat people with rare diseases affecting the ‘complement system’, such as paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria, a rare blood disease that causes red blood cells to break apart, and C3 glomerulopathy, a group of related conditions that cause the kidneys to malfunction.

Ludwig Hantson, CEO of Alexion said the pharma companies will be combining its expertise to “unlock the potential of oral Factor D inhibitors”.

“Alexion has demonstrated the transformative impact that inhibiting C5 can have on multiple rare and devastating diseases. However, we believe this is just the beginning of what’s possible with complement inhibition,” Hantson said.

CEO of Achillion, Joe Truitt said there is “significant opportunity for Factor D inhibition in the treatment of other diseases as well”.

“Alexion is an established leader in developing medicines for complement-mediated diseases, and we look forward to working together to accelerate our objective of bringing novel therapies to patients as quickly as possible and ensuring that the broad promise of this approach is fully realised,” Truitt said.

According to the release, Alexion will pay $930 million to acquire Achillion, and the transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2020.

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