Dapian

Apr 14, 2022

Print San Diego’s Halozyme Therapeutics, which provides technology to biopharmaceutical companies to help them develop treatments that are delivered quickly and easily to patients, has inked a deal to buy Antares Pharma for $960 million in cash. Halozyme will pay $5.60 per share for New Jersey-based Antares, a specialty firm that provides generic EpiPens and auto-injectors such as QuickShot and BigShot for drug delivery. It also has testosterone replacement therapy products. The deal, announced Wednesday before markets opened, represents a 49 percent premium over Antares’ share price the day before. Its shares gained $1.84 to close at $5.58. The combination will create a leading drug delivery and specialty product company, according to Halozyme. It thinks Antares’ auto injector platform has board licensing potential. “As one company, Halozyme and Antares will become the partner of choice for pharma and biotech companies looking for convenient and patient-friendly drug and biologic administration,” said Halozyme Chief Executive Dr. Helen Torley in a conference call with analysts. Advertisement The acquisition also diversifies Halozyme’s revenue mix — adding two approved testosterone replacement products — Xyosted and Tlando — as well as a third product, Nocdurna, which helps people who get up often in the night to urinate. Halozyme used to develop new oncology drugs itself, but it scrapped its cancer program after a promising pancreatic cancer drug flopped in a late-stage clinical trial a few years ago, forcing layoffs of about 160 workers. Since then, Halozyme has focused on Enhanze — a technology that can reduce hours-long treatments for a wide variety of conditions to a matter of minutes. Enhanze breaks down a sugar molecule abundant in the skin, which allows drugs to be administered quickly through the skin rather than through a gradual intravenous drip. That minimizes the time health care providers spend monitoring patients and helps patients get their treatment and go back to living their lives. Halozyme, which now employs 145 workers, partners with drug makers during the development process to incorporate Enhanze, which it says has helped more than 400,000 patients across five drug programs. Its partners include Roche, Pfizer, Janssen, AbbVie, Lilly and Bristol-Myers Squibb, among others. It makes money from milestone payments and royalties from its partners’ use of Enhanze. Last year, Halozyme posted revenue of $443 million, up 66 percent from the prior year. Adjusted earnings came in at $2 per share. The company ended the year with $740 million in cash. Antares reported sales of $184 million last year, up 23 percent. Net income reached $46 million, or 26 cents a share. It employs 200 workers. “We are pleased to have reached this agreement with Halozyme, as this transaction showcases the value of Antares’ highly complementary business, provides our shareholders with attractive and certain value, and brings together industry-leading expertise and drug delivery platforms,” said Antares Chief Executive Robert F. Apple in a statement. Halozyme expects to complete the deal in the first half of this year. The company says it will immediately boost its 2022 adjusted earnings, as well as accelerate top- and bottom-line growth through 2027 and beyond. “We expect synergies to be very modest,” said Torley. “This really is a story about addition in terms of revenue and earnings growth.” Halozyme’s shares ended trading Wednesday down 16 cents at $41.46 on the Nasdaq exchange.