Takeda Pharmaceutical (NYSE:TAK) is acquiring Nimbus Therapeutics' Nimbus Lakshmi and its potential psoriasis therapy NDI-034858 for $4B upfront plus two milestone payments of $1B each.
The Japanese drugmaker said NDI-034858 is an oral, selective allosteric TYK2 inhibitor being evaluated to treat multiple autoimmune diseases following successful results from a phase 2b trial in plaque psoriasis.
"Adding this TYK2 inhibitor to our late-stage pipeline gives Takeda an exciting program that has the potential to significantly expand our portfolio and patient impact, while enhancing our growth strategy beyond ENTYVIO," said Takeda President and CEO Christophe Weber.
Takeda intends to present results from Nimbus' phase 2b study early in 2023 and the drug is expected to enter a phase 3 trial in psoriasis the same year.
NDI-034858 is an ongoing phase 2b study in active psoriatic arthritis, and Takeda plans to evaluate the medicine for treating inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and other autoimmune diseases.
"Even after closing the deal, we expect to end this fiscal year with a debt ratio in the ‘low-to-mid-twos,’ and with a weighted average interest fixed rate of approximately 2%," said Takeda CFO Costa Saroukos.
Cambridge, Mass.-based privately held Nimbus Therapeutics said it will retain ownership of its other research and development subsidiaries. Takeda will be solely responsible for future development and commercialization of NDI-034858 and other TYK2 inhibitors.
Under the agreement, besides the $4B upfront cash, Takeda will pay two milestone payments of $1B each upon achieving annual net sales of $4B and $5B.
The upfront payment will be mainly funded by cash on hand.
The transaction is expected to be finalized before the end of FY2022.
The deal is contingent to U.S. antitrust clearance.
TAK +0.94% to $15.06 premarket Dec. 13