After the developer of medicines for rare autoimmune and inflammatory diseases said it was in talks with a trio of potential suitors about a possible sale of the company, Horizon Therapeutics plc soared in post-market US trading.
Amgen Inc. Johnson and Sanofi are engaged in preliminary discussions with Horizon, the company said on Tuesday. There is no certainty that any of the talks will lead to an offer. After markets closed in New York, Dublin-based Horizon rose by as much as 33%.
Amid the exhausting focus on Covid 19 major drugmakers are looking for new therapies, especially for those that treat rare diseases and cancer. Merck Co. scuttled an estimated $37 billion bid for oncology drugmaker Seagen Inc. earlier this year, but it agreed this month to purchase Imago BioSciences Inc. to gain therapies for rare bone marrow conditions that lead to overproduction of blood cells.
Horizon had dropped 27% this year through Tuesday s close, valuing the company at $17.8 billion. The company receives almost half of its $3.6 billion annual sales from Tepezza, a treatment for a painful autoimmune condition called thyroid eye disease. Other top drugs include Krystexxa for chronic gout and Ravicti, a treatment for inborn urea disorders.
Each company would have until 5 p.m. New York time on January 10 to step up with an offer or say it is backing out, Horizon said in the statement. The US has US operations in Rockville, Maryland and Deerfield, Illinois.
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