Horizon Pharma extends $3-bn hostile bid for Depomed to 20 November

Irish biopharmaceutical firm Horizon Pharma Plc has extended the expiry of its hostile $3-billion takeover of smaller US rival Depomed Inc to 20 November.

Horizon said that it has received approximately 7,873 shares of Depomed common stock and the exchange offer was earlier scheduled to expire on 6 November.

The Dublin-based company has already called for a special shareholder meeting scheduled for 13 November to approve issuing 81.7 million shares as part of its proposed acquisition of Depomed.

In early July, Horizon tabled a hostile $3-billion offer to acquire Depomed, aiming to generate significant revenue and tax savings. (See: Ireland's Horizon Pharma launches $3-bn hostile buyout bid for US rival Depomed)

Horizon has offered to buy all outstanding shares of Depomed for $29.25 per share in an all-stock deal, and later sweetened it to $33 a share.

Depomed rejected both the offers saying that the value of the all stock offer were "confusing and misleading'' since Horizon's stock price has now fallen to little over $17 a share.

Newark, California-based Depomed is a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on drugs to treat pain and neurology related disorders. Its products include Nucynta for management of pain, Gralise for postherpetic neuralgia, Cambia for acute migraine and Zipor, a non-steroidal drug for pain in adults, etc.

Early this year, Depomed bought the rights to Nucynta from Johnson & Johnson for $1.05 billion.

Its Glumetza drug has been approved for the treatment of type II diabetes in adults, and is sold in the US by Valeant Pharmaceuticals.

It has also developed and licensed a unique drug-delivery technology called Acuform – a patented oral-delivery technology that allows targeted extended release of pharmaceutical compounds into the upper gastrointestinal tract.

In 2014, Depomed reported revenue of $390 million with net income of $132 million.

Horizon Pharma markets seven medicines through its orphan, primary care and specialty business units for the treatment of arthritis pain and rare diseases. Its Duexis, Pennsaid, Vimovo and Rayos drugs are used in the treatment of arthritis pain and inflammation, while it's Buphenyl, Ravicti And Actimmune drugs are used for treatment of rare diseases.

Apart from Ireland, the company has operations in the US, Germany and Switzerland.

The company reported a 118-per cent jump in revenue at $113 million for the first quarter, compared to $52 million for the same quarter a year ago. Net loss for the period reduced from $206 million to around $20 million.

For the current year, the drug maker has increased its guidance by about 30 per cent to $590-$610 million, on the back of its newly-launched non-steroidal osteoarthritis pain reliever Pennsaid 2 per cent, and strong performance from its arthritis drugs Duexis and Vimovo.

Moreover, Horizon's recent $1.1 billion acquisition of biopharmaceutical firm Hyperion Therapeutics Inc will diversify its product portfolio by adding two drugs Ravicit and Buphenyl for the treatment of urea cycle disorders.

It also this year acquired Irish pharmaceutical company Vidara Therapeutics International for $587 million.