AstraZeneca To Buy Amolyt Pharma for $1.05B To Expand Rare Disease Pipeline

AstraZeneca PLC (AZN) plans to acquire biotech firm Amolyt Pharma for $1.05 billion in cash, the drugmaker said Thursday, boosting its pipeline of drugs to treat rare diseases.

Amolyt Pharma is in late-stage development of a drug for hypoparathyroidism, a deficiency in parathyroid hormone production that can lead to chronic kidney disease. AstraZeneca said hypoparathyroidism affects 115,000 people in the U.S. and 107,000 people in the European Union, approximately 80% of whom are women.

This acquisition will strengthen Alexion, AstraZeneca’s rare disease arm, the company said.

Under the terms of the agreement, AstraZeneca will acquire all of Amolyt Pharma’s outstanding shares for $1.05 billion, including an $800 million upfront payment and an additional $250 million upon achievement of a specified regulatory milestone.

AstraZeneca said it expects the deal to close by the end of the third quarter of 2024.

The Anglo-Swedish drugmaker has been on a buying spree since early last year.

It acquired Pfizer’s rare disease gene therapy portfolio; CinCor Pharma, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company; and biopharma firm Icosavax to expand into cutting-edge vaccine technology. AstraZeneca also signed a licensing agreement for an experimental weight-loss pill with Chinese company Eccogene and is developing breast cancer treatments with Japan’s Daiichi Sankyo.

AstraZeneca shares were down 0.73% at $67.09 at 12:22 p.m. ET Thursday and are off about 3% in the past year.