AstraZeneca to buy US biotech CinCor in $1.8bn deal

AstraZeneca has agreed to buy US biotech CinCor in a deal worth up to $1.8bn, as it seeks to expand its pipeline of heart and kidney drugs.

The Anglo-Swedish drugmaker said on Monday it would pay $26 a share, a 121 per cent premium to CinCor’s closing price on Friday.

CinCor shares sold off in November after a phase 2 trial for baxdrostat, a novel treatment that can lower blood pressure, failed to prove that it worked in patients with uncontrolled hypertension.

But the Massachusetts-based company is planning a phase 3 trial after another phase 2 trial showed that it worked in a different group of patients with treatment-resistant hypertension.

Mene Pangalos, executive vice-president of biopharmaceuticals research and development at AstraZeneca, said the deal “supports our commitment to cardiorenal disease and further strengthens our pipeline with baxdrostat”. AstraZeneca said baxdrostat could also be combined with Farxiga, its drug for chronic kidney disease.

Patients with high blood pressure for which generic drugs called statins do not work remain at risk of stroke, heart attacks, and chronic kidney diseases.

As part of the transaction, AstraZeneca will also acquire the cash and other securities on CinCor’s balance sheet, totalling about $522mn. Alongside the $26 a share, AstraZeneca said it was offering CinCor investors a further $10 a share in cash, which would be paid if and when baxdrostat was submitted for regulatory approval.

If CinCor meets certain targets, the $1.8bn price would a 206 per cent premium to where the group’s shares closed at the end of last week.

Marc de Garidel, Cincor chief executive, said the deal with AstraZeneca should accelerate its progression through clinical trials and expand the number of patients that could benefit from the drug, if it was approved.

The acquisition comes at the start of this week’s JPMorgan healthcare conference in San Francisco, the pharmaceutical industry’s largest annual gathering. Analysts are forecasting a year of dealmaking, with large drugmakers making the most of the drop in biotech valuations.

The S&P index of smaller biotech companies was down 19 per cent in the last year, after some investors cut back on riskier bets as central banks tightened monetary policy.

In December, California-based drugmaker Amgen acquired Horizon Therapeutics for $28.3bn, including debt, winning a three-way race. Japanese pharmaceutical company Takeda also bought a drug from Nimbus Therapeutics in a deal worth up to $6bn.