Neurology specialist Supernus Pharmaceuticals will snap up Sage Therapeutics, which was once valued at more than $9 billion, for $561 million up front, with the hope that it can help transform a newly launched treatment for postpartum depression (PPD) into the indication’s standard of care.
The buyout of Massachusetts-based Sage comes after a takeover bid, earlier this year by Biogen, which offered $7.22 per share for the struggling, 15-year-old biotech.
Six months later, Supernus got the job done with an offer of $8.50 per share, plus a contingent value right (CVR) worth $3.50 per share if a set of milestones are achieved, which would bump up the value of the deal to $795 million.
The key piece of the deal is Biogen-partnered PPD drug Zurzuvae, which was approved by the FDA in August of 2023. Together with the approval, the U.S. regulator rejected the drug in a much larger indication—major depressive disorder—triggering a layoff of 40% of its staff later in the month, followed by an additional purge of its pipeline and its workers in October of last year.
As the company’s value has plummeted, sales of Zurzuvae have shown promise, increasing by 21% sequentially from the final quarter of 2024 to the first quarter of this year. The increase equated to $13.8 million in collaboration revenue for Sage in its partnership with Biogen on the treatment.
“The growth potential of this product is huge—500,000 women every year experience symptoms in PPD,” Supernus CEO Jack Khattar said in a Monday conference call. “There hasn’t been anything over the years, which is mind-boggling, that has been developed for women who suffer from PPD.”
Zurzuvae will become Supernus’ fourth growth product, the company said, joining ADHD medicine Qelbree, Parkinson’s disease medicine Gocovri and Parkinson’s infusion pump Onapgo, which was approved four months ago. In the first quarter, Supernus reported revenue of $150 million, with $65 million coming from Qelbree and $31 million from Gocovri, which saw respective year-over-year sales increases of 44% and 16%.
Supernus said it expects the deal to close in the third quarter of this year. Supernus sees cost savings advantages to adding Sage given their overlapping networks.
“This transaction represents a strong fit for the existing Supernus infrastructure and is expected to yield up to $200 million in potential synergies on an annualized basis,” Khattar said.
By Kevin Dunleavy
Source: fiercepharma.com
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