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Mitsubishi Tanabe to acquire NeuroDerm
07-25-2017
EDIT CONNECT
SHARING OPTIONS:
REHOVOT, Israel & TOKYO—Israeli clinical-stage pharmaceutical company NeuroDerm Ltd., which is developing drug-device combinations for central nervous system disorders, was
making the rounds in June at various meetings. Specifically, representatives of the company attended the 21st International Congress of
Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders in Canada and the Third Congress of the European Academy of Neurology in Amsterdam to share final data from
Trial 006, a Phase 2 clinical study of ND0612H—NeuroDerm’s high-dose continuous, subcutaneously delivered levodopa/carbidopa (LD/CD) liquid
formulation—in patients with advanced Parkinson's disease.
And while there may have been interest in the
company prior, the promising study results probably have a lot to do with the announcement on July 24 that Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corp. (MTPC) had entered into a definitive agreement with NeuroDerm under which MTPC will acquire all of the
outstanding shares of NeuroDerm for a total diluted equity value of $1.1 billion (about $39 per share in cash).
For those who enjoy the sometimes dizzying process details of mergers and acquisitions, the merger will be conducted through a reverse triangular
merger, in which MTPC’s wholly owned merger subsidiary established in Israel solely for the purpose of the acquisition process will merge into
NeuroDerm, after which NeuroDerm will become the surviving entity. Upon the closing of the transaction, NeuroDerm will become a wholly owned subsidiary of
MTPC.
Although it is unclear whether MTPC was attracted to the Parkinson’s disease and movement disorder
realm in particular, the potential value of NeuroDerm’s portfolio, including ND0612H, seems very clear. As MTPC noted of the objectives and background
of the acquisition:
NeuroDerm is a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company that develops
novel formulation technology and drug-device combinations for Parkinson’s disease. Its lead product candidate, ND0612 has commenced Phase 3 clinical
trials in the U.S. and Europe, and the product is expected to launch in FY2019. Given the importance of controlling blood levels of levodopa in the treatment
of Parkinson’s disease, ND0612 is expected to be used to treat advanced-stage Parkinson’s disease, and will be used in patients for whom oral
levodopa is no longer effective in the control of motor complications. NeuroDerm is the first to develop liquid levodopa and carbidopa in the world. ND0612
can be continuously subcutaneously administered over a 24-hour period through a convenient, small belt-worn pump.
In its “Medium-Term Management Plan 16–20: Open Up the Future,” MTPC
stated that it will strive, through in-house sales, to rapidly build a foundation for sustained growth in the U.S., the world’s largest pharmaceutical
market.
As a first step toward advancing its franchise in
the U.S., MTPC is expected to launch Radicava, an FDA-approved treatment option for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in the U.S. market in August 2017.
Additionally, the acquisition of ND0612 through this transaction is intended to enable MTPC to achieve its U.S. sales target of 80 billion yen by FY2020,
which is part of its Medium-Term Management Plan. MTPC will expand its product pipeline in the central nervous system disease area and advance its goal of
providing patients with innovative drugs to address unmet medical needs.
As for NeuroDerm’s observations,
the company noted that the transaction has received unanimous approval by its board of directors and that the offer from MTPC represents a premium of 79
percent over the unaffected price on June 9, 2017 of NeuroDerm’s ordinary shares on the NASDAQ stock market, and a 17-percent premium over the closing
stock price on July 21, 2017. Assuming typical regulatory and shareholder approval timeframes, NeuroDerm currently anticipates the transaction will close in
the fourth quarter of 2017.
“We believe that this transaction will yield important benefits for
NeuroDerm’s shareholders and the Parkinson’s disease patients that urgently need new therapies,” said Dr. Oded S. Lieberman, CEO of
NeuroDerm. “MTPC has demonstrated development and commercialization expertise in the field of neurology, and we are confident that the combination of
their resources and the robust data supporting ND0612, our Phase 3 Parkinson’s disease product candidate, will help make this important new therapy
available as broadly and rapidly as possible. The transaction also provides our shareholders with a significant return on their investment in NeuroDerm,
reflecting the value that we have created with our pipeline and technologies.”
In earlier news releases
about the data reported in June regarding Trial 006, Lieberman said: “The significant increase in good on-time coupled with a significant reduction in
off-time, including a complete resolution of off-time to zero in 42 percent of patients in the first of our two regimens, demonstrates the substantial
potential of 24-hour administration of ND0612H. The results of this study offer additional evidence that this innovative therapy can transform the care and
outcome for patients with advanced Parkinson’s disease, and suggest that ND0612 can provide significant patient benefit without the surgical risks
associated with deep brain stimulation and LD/CD intestinal gel.”
NeuroDerm is developing central nervous
system product candidates that are designed to overcome major deficiencies of current treatments and achieve enhanced clinical efficacy through continuous,
controlled administration. NeuroDerm’s main focus is in Parkinson's disease, where it has three clinical-stage product candidates in development
which offer a solution for almost every Parkinson’s disease patient, from moderate to the very severe stage of the disease. The primary product
candidates are a line of LD/CD products administered through small belt pumps that deliver a continuous, controlled dose of LD/CD. The LD/CD product
candidates, ND0612L and ND0612H, are aimed at the treatment of moderate and advanced Parkinson’s disease patients, respectively, and are delivered
subcutaneously. NeuroDerm is also designing a patch pump for future use. In addition, NeuroDerm is developing ND0701, a novel subcutaneously delivered
apomorphine formulation for patients who suffer from moderate to severe Parkinson’s disease and who do not respond well to LD/CD.
Code: E07261701 Back |
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