AstraZeneca buys US biotech company CinCor

AstraZeneca plans to acquire US biotech company CinCor in a deal worth up to $1.8 billion to expand its heart and kidney drug offerings.

The Anglo-Swedish drugmaker said Monday it will pay $26 a share, a 121 percent premium to CinCor's closing price on Friday.

CinCor's shares plummeted in November after a Phase 2 trial of baxdrostat, a novel drug used to lower blood pressure, showed no effect in patients with uncontrolled high blood pressure.

However, the Massachusetts-based company is planning a phase 3 trial after another phase 2 trial showed an effect in a different group of patients with treatment-resistant hypertension.

Mene Pangalos, Executive Vice-President of Biopharmaceuticals Research and Development at AstraZeneca, said the deal "supports our commitment to cardio-renal disease and further strengthens our pipeline with baxdrostat." AstraZeneca said baxdrostat could also be combined with Farxiga, its chronic kidney disease drug.

Patients with high blood pressure who are unresponsive to generic drugs called statins remain at risk of stroke, heart attack and chronic kidney disease.

The deal was the largest of several announced Monday at the start of the JPMorgan Healthcare Conference, the pharmaceutical industry's largest annual gathering, in San Francisco.

Analysts are expecting a deal-packed year for the industry, with big drugmakers taking advantage of the decline in biotech valuations. The S&P index of smaller biotech companies has fallen 19 percent over the past year after investors scaled back risk bets amid central bank rate hikes.

In a sign the companies are seeking new sources of funding in a tougher market, Ionis Pharmaceuticals on Monday signed an agreement valued at up to $1.1 billion to sell a portion of its interest in the royalties for two drugs owned by Novartis and Biogen to develop new genetic drugs.

Paris-based pharmaceutical company Ipsen, meanwhile, announced it has agreed to pay nearly $1 billion for Albireo, a US-listed company developing drugs to treat rare liver diseases. Life sciences company Qiagen also announced that it has acquired DNA biometrics company Verogen for $150 million in cash to strengthen its position in the forensics market.

In the largest deal of the day, AstraZeneca will also acquire cash and other securities on CinCor's balance sheet totaling approximately $522 million. In addition to the $26 per share, AstraZeneca is offering CinCor investors an additional $10 per share in cash to be paid if Baxdrostat is submitted for approval.

If CinCor meets certain targets, the $1.8 billion price tag would represent a 206 percent premium to CinCor's stock price at the end of last week. CinCor shares are up 137 percent to nearly $28 in early trade in New York.

Marc de Garidel, Cincor's chief executive officer, said the deal with AstraZeneca should accelerate progress in clinical trials and increase the number of patients who could benefit from the drug if approved.

Monday's flurry of deals follows two bigger deals last month, including California-based Amgen's acquisition of Horizon Therapeutics for $28.3 billion (including debt) after it won in a three-way race.