Astellas cuts $5.9bn deal to buy Iveric Bio

Astellas Pharma has agreed its largest-ever acquisition, buying US biotech Iveric Bio in a deal that continues to build its presence in the ophthalmology sector,

The $40-per-share offer values Iveric Bio at a sizeable $5.9 billion and revolves around lead drug Zimura (avacincaptad pegol), a therapy recently filed for approval in the US for geographic atrophy secondary to age-related macular degeneration AMD), a leading form cause of blindness.

Iveric Bio, which was once known as Ophthotech, is waiting for an FDA decision on the drug in August. If approved, it could become a rival to Apellis Pharma’s Syfovre (pegcetacoplan), which was the first drug cleared to treat geographic atrophy in the US in February.

Both drugs are complement inhibitors that are administered by intravitreal injection directly into the eye. While Syfovre targets complement C3, Iveric Bio’s therapy is a C5 inhibitor.

Geographic atrophy is a potentially huge indication, with more than 5 million people affected by it worldwide, including more than a million in the US alone, and GlobalData recently predicted that Zimura would become a $1.2 billion product by 2032 in the US alone.

Astellas said in a statement that it thinks Zimura has the potential to “deliver value to a large and underserved patient base.”

Iveric Bio has already started developing a new formulation of the drug that it hopes will require less frequent dosing through an alliance with drug delivery specialist DelSiTech.

The agreement comes as Astellas is contemplating the end of patent protection for its top-selling prostate cancer product Xtandi (enzalutamide), partnered with Pfizer, which will come to an end in 2027. Astellas recorded nearly $3.9 billion in sales of the drug in the nine months ended December 2022.

Adding Zimura will provide an additional growth product for the Japanese drugmaker alongside menopause therapy fezolinetant – currently under review by the FDA – as well as Seagen-partnered cancer therapy Padcev (enfortumab vedotin).

Meanwhile, absorbing Iveric Bio also bolsters Astellas gene therapy unit, which already includes ophthalmological disease candidates following its takeover of UK biotech Quethera in 2018 for around $109 million.

Astellas and Iveric Bio said they expect the deal to close in the third quarter of this year, subject to the usual regulatory reviews. Funding for the acquisition will come from a combination of cash, loans and a commercial paper instrument, according to Astellas, which estimates that the deal will help it meet financial targets for fiscal 2025.