Thursday, December 29, 2011

Alexion to pay up to $1B for Enobia

By Rodney Brown

Barely more than six months after expanding from Montreal to Cambridge, Enobia Pharma Inc. has agreed to be bought by Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. for a potential total of just under $1.1 billion.

Cheshire, Conn.-based Alexion (Nasdaq: ALXN)said in a release that it would spend $610 million in cash up front upon the close of the deal - expected to happen in the first quarter of 2012 - and an additional $470 million in cash based on Enobia reaching of various regulatory and sales milestones. According to Leonard Bell, CEO of Alexion, Enobia’s focus on therapies for ultra-rare and life-threatening genetic metabolic disorders fits well with Alexion’s mission “to develop and deliver life-transforming therapies for patients suffering with ultra-rare, severe, and life-threatening disorders.”

Enobia’s lead product candidate is ENB-0040 (asfotase alfa), a human recombinant targeted alkaline phosphatase enzyme-replacement therapy for patients suffering with hypophosphatasia (HPP). The compound was given orphan drug designation in the U.S. and EU in 2008, Fast Track status in the U.S. in 2009, and is currently in Phase 2 clinical development, according to the release. HPP is characterized by defective bone mineralization and impaired phosphate and calcium regulation leading to progressive damage to multiple vital organs including destruction and deformity of bones, profound muscle weakness, seizures, impaired renal function, and respiratory failure, the release stated.

In May, Enobia announced its plans to site a U.S. headquarters in Cambridge. The company already had a presence renting office space in Cambridge, but the new U.S. headquarters will sublet the 21,000 square-foot site from Verenium Corp. at 55 Cambridge Parkway.

Alexion said it will pay for Enobia with cash on hand and $300 million of bank debt that has already been committed. Around the same time as Enobia expanded into Cambridge, Alexion broke ground to enlarge its Smithfield, R.I.-based manufacturing facility by 20,000 square feet. Since buying the plant in 2006, the company has invested about $150 million into it, not counting the cost of the new expansion.

In September, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration gave approval of Alexion’s atypical Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (aHUS) drug Soliris, while the European Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) gave a recommendation for Soliris to be approved in Europe to treat adults and children with the rare blood disease aHUS.