• 12 Oct 2023
• Admin
• News Article

Bristol Myers Squibb to buy Mirati Therapeutics in deal worth up to $5.8 billion

Bristol Myers Squibb announced it will acquire drug maker Mirati Therapeutics in a deal worth up to $5.8 billion, diversifying its oncology business and adding drugs it hopes can help offset expected lost revenue from patent expirations later this decade.

Bristol Myers Squibb will pay $58 per share in cash. As part of the deal, Mirati Therapeutics stockholders will also get one non-tradeable contingency value for each Mirati share held, potentially worth $12 per share in cash while representing an additional $1 billion of value opportunity, according to a company statement.

Bristol Myers Squibb will pick up Mirati’s portfolio of drugs that target the genetic drivers of specific cancers, including its lung cancer drug Krazati, which was approved in December.

Bristol Myers Squibb will finance the transaction with a combination of cash and debt, the company statement says.

The US Food and Drug Administration in December approved the drug to treat adults with advanced lung cancer.

The acquisition agreement with Bristol Myers Squibb will also give each Mirati stockholder one non-tradeable contingent value right for every share they hold.

MRTX1719, central to the deal’s contingent value right, is a potentially first-in-class PRMT5 inhibitor in early-stage development for several tumour types, including non-small cell lung cancer. The candidate is expected to enter phase II studies in the first half of 2024.

Through this acquisition, Bristol Myers Squibb will include Krazati, an important lung cancer medicine, to its commercial portfolio, BMS said in Sunday’s announcement, while gaining access to several promising clinical assets that complement its oncology pipeline and are strong candidates for single agent development and combination strategies.

Mirati’s non-small cell lung cancer therapy Krazati (adagrasib) was granted the US FDA accelerated approval for patients with advanced or metastatic disease harboring the G12C KRAS mutation and had undergone at least one prior line of systemic therapy.

Krazati has also shown potential beyond non-small cell lung cancer. Its active ingredient adagrasib can penetrate into the central nervous system and induce intracranial response, pointing to possible therapeutic effects in patients with active and untreated brain metastases, according to Bristol Myers Squibb’s announcement on 8th October.

On Thursday, Krazati’s main competitor, Amgen’s Lumakras (sotorasib), stumbled in a meeting of the US FDA’s Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee, which voted by a wide margin that the company’s Phase III progression-free survival data could not be reliably evaluated. Amgen is seeking to convert Lumakras’ accelerated approval into full approval, for which the US FDA’s decision is due.  

Bristol Myers Squibb will conduct the deal through a subsidiary and expects to close the transaction by the first half of 2024, pending approval from Mirati’s stockholders and regulatory clearance.