Schwarz Pharma, UCB deal
UCB proposed to acquire SRZ for about E91.1 per share in stock and cash. The price is a 20% premium to SRZ's close of E75.65 on Sept. 22, the last trading day before the deal was announced, and values the SRZ at about E4.4 billion ($5.6 billion). The newco, which would have had 2005 revenues of E3.3 billion, will focus on neurology, inflammation and oncology and will have a combined annual R&D budget of E770 million.
SRZ's Parkinson's disease (PD) patch Neupro rotigotine is marketed in Europe and has received an approvable letter from FDA. The company's lacosamide has completed Phase III testing to treat epilepsy and neuropathic pain. UCB markets Keppra levetiracetam to treat epilepsy, as well as allergy drugs Xyzal levocetirizine and Zyrtec cetirizine. UCB's Cimzia certolizumab ( CDP870), which is a pegylated humanized antibody fragment against TNF alpha, is under review in the U.S. and the EU for Crohn's disease, in Phase III testing to treat rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and in Phase II testing to treat psoriasis. UCB also has Keppra levetiracetam extended-release (XR) in Phase III testing for epilepsy. ...