Shire Scoops Up Baxalta for $32B

Following weeks of speculation, Irish drugmaker Shire made official last week its agreement to acquire Baxalta for roughly $32 billion.

The proposed merger will result in the top rare diseases platform in both revenue and pipeline depth, according to Shire. It will feature products in the fields of hematology, immunology, neuroscience, lysosomal storage diseases, gastrointestinal and endocrine and hereditary angioedema.

It also will include a growing oncology pipeline, with several candidates in Phase 3 studies. Baxalta’s marketed treatments in oncology include Oncaspar — a biologic treatment for acute lymphocytic leukemia — and Onivyde for treatment of metastatic pancreatic cancer.

John Lyon, a professor at Warwick Business School in the UK and a former vice president of CRO Covance, says the deal makes “good strategic sense” for Shire.

The companies expect the transaction to close in the middle of the year.

Separately, Baxalta announced that its proposed Enbrel biosimilar CHS-0214 met its primary endpoint in a Phase 3 clinical trial. The candidate — designed for treatment of rheumatoid arthritis — achieved 20 percent improvement based on the American College of Rheumatology criteria at week 24.

The candidate also met its primary endpoints in patients with chronic plaque psoriasis, according to results unveiled last November.