Alexion Acquires Synageva for $8.4 Billion

Alexion Pharmaceuticals announced on May 6, 2015 that it entered into a definitive agreement with Synageva BioPharma to acquire all of the outstanding shares of common stock of Synageva in a transaction valued at approximately $8.4 billion. The acquisition will strengthen Alexion’s rare diseases pipeline and expand company manufacturing.

As part of the deal, Alexion will have eight product candidates in clinical trials for 11 indications, according to a press release. The acquisition also gives Alexion control of more than 30 pre-clinical programs, 12 of which are from Synageva. By the end of 2016, it is expected that when combined, there will be at least four pre-clinical candidates entering the clinic from the two companies’ pipelines. Alexion will also benefit from gaining Synageva’s three upstream facilities and expression platform, a proprietary manufacturing technology that is “an integrated system of proprietary vectors that can be used to produce proteins with human-like glycosylation patterns, creating additional therapies with better targeting capabilities and the potential for greater efficacy,” according to a press release. 

Synageva brings Alexion Kanuma (sebelipase alfa), a investigational recombinant form of the human Lysosomal Acid Lipase (LAL) enzyme for the treatment of LAL deficiency. “Alexion is uniquely suited to advance Synageva’s mission to deliver life-saving therapies to patients whose diseases were once considered too rare for developing treatments. As Kanuma moves closer toward patients who suffer from LAL deficiency, and the other pipeline programs continue to progress, I am confident that this transaction will help continue to improve the lives of patients with LAL deficiency and other devastating, rare diseases for years to come,” said Sanj K. Patel, president and CEO of Synageva, in a press release.