BioMarin Pharmaceuticals to buy Dutch drug developer Prosensa for up to $840 mn

US-based rare diseases drug maker BioMarin Pharmaceuticals Inc yesterday agreed to buy Dutch drug developer Prosensa Holding NV, for up to $840 million.

BioMarin will pay or $17.75 per share or $680 million up front for all outstanding shares of the company, and will also make two additional payments of $80 million each if Prosensa's Duchenne muscular dystrophy drug (DMD) Drisapersen is approved in the US before 16 May 2016, and in Europe by 15 February 2017.

The purchase price represents a premium of 55.2 per cent over Prosensa's Friday closing price of $11.44.

The acquisition will give BioMarin with worldwide rights to multiple orphan-drug candidates, including Drisapersen, which is currently under a US Food and Drug Administration review.

DMD is the most common fatal genetic disorder diagnosed in childhood, affecting approximately 1 in every 3,500 live male births or about 20,000 new cases each year.

DMD is caused by a mutation in the gene that encodes for dystrophin, a protein that is important in connecting the cytoskeleton of muscle fibres to the extracellular matrix. Its deficiency in DMD leads to progressive muscle weakness, loss of ambulation in early adolescence, and typically death due to pulmonary or cardiac insufficiency in the late twenties.

Because the Duchenne gene is found on the X-chromosome, it primarily affects boys; however, it occurs across all races and cultures. Currently there is no cure for DMD.

Prosensa also has several potential drugs in the pipeline for the treatment of various genotypes of DMD and other genetic disorders.

Based in Leiden, The Netherlands, Prosensa is a biotechnology company that discovers and develops RNA-modulating therapeutics for the treatment of genetic disorders.

Its primary focus is on rare neuromuscular and neurodegenerative disorders with a large unmet medical need, including DMD, myotonic dystrophy and Huntington's disease.

BioMarin develops biopharmaceuticals for serious diseases and medical conditions. The California-based company's product portfolio comprises five approved products and multiple clinical and pre-clinical product candidates.

BioMarin, which has developed and commercialised five products since 1997, has 1,300 employees and annual revenues of $548.5 million.