Date: 2015-02-24
Type of information: Company acquisition
Acquired company: Meritage Pharma (USA - CA)
Acquiring company: Shire (UK - USA)
Amount: $70 million and additional contingent payments based on the achievement of development and regulatory milestones
Terms: * On February 24, 2015, Shire and Meritage Pharma announced that Shire has acquired Meritage, a privately-held company, for an upfront fee of $70 million and additional contingent payments based on the achievement of development and regulatory milestones. With the acquisition, Shire has acquired the global rights to—and undertaken the further development of—Meritage’s Phase 3-ready compound, Oral Budesonide Suspension (OBS), for the treatment of adolescents and adults with eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE), a rare, chronic inflammatory gastrointestinal (GI) disease. This acquisition further enhances Shire’s late-stage pipeline and builds upon the Company’s rare disease and GI commercial infrastructure and expertise. Shire obtained the rights to acquire Meritage in connection with its acquisition of ViroPharma in 2014.
Details: Meritage Pharma is conducting phase 2 trials with oral budesonide for the treatment of eosinophilic esophagitis. The drug has been granted orphan status in this indication in December 2006.
Related: Rare diseases Gastrointestinal diseases
