- AstraZeneca's biggest-selling heart drug to lose US patent in 2025
- Low biotech valuations make M&A likely
AstraZeneca (AZN) has agreed to acquire Massachusetts-based biotech firm CinCor (US:CINC) for up to $1.8bn (£1.5bn). The deal is centred around Cincor’s baxdrostat, a drug under development for patients with high blood pressure, or hypertension.
The UK pharma giant will pay $26 per share for CinCor – more than double the roughly $12 it has been trading at since late November. The shares plunged at that time following a disappointing phase 2 trial, which showed that baxdrostat was ineffective in people with uncontrolled hypertension.
CinCor is nonetheless preparing to take the drug into phase 3 trials after it showed promise in a group of patients with treatment-resistant hypertension.
Though best known for its oncology franchise, AstraZeneca also has expertise in cardiovascular medicine. Farxiga – a treatment for heart failure, as well as chronic kidney disease and type II diabetes – is one of the company’s highest-selling drugs. It brought in $3bn in global sales in 2021.
Analysts at Shore Capital said the CinCor acquisition presented “the opportunity for [AstraZeneca] to develop combinations with farxiga and could be something to potentially help it to navigate farxiga’s loss of exclusivity”. The drug’s US patent is due to expire in the US in 2025, with its European equivalent expiring two years later.
The deal comes at the beginning of the pharmaceutical sector’s largest annual event, the JPMorgan healthcare conference in San Francisco. After biotech valuations plummeted last year, the sector is now bracing for a period of consolidation.
The most likely targets are firms that report positive clinical trial outcomes, indicating they have a promising drug that is ready for commercialisation - although this deal shows one weak phase will not kill off interest.
