AstraZeneca scoops up rare disease firm Amolyt in $1bn deal

Anglo-Swedish pharma giant AstraZeneca will acquire all Amolyt’s outstanding shares for an upfront payment of $800 million and the potential to receive an additional payment of $250 million, dependent on regulatory milestones.

The firm said the decision to buy the French company will further expand the Alexion, AstraZeneca rare disease pipeline and advance its presence in bone metabolism and rare endocrinology. AstraZeneca acquired Alexion in 2021 for $39 billion.

Under the terms of the deal, its Alexion business will gain Amolyt’s rare disease late-stage pipeline, including the addition of eneboparatide (AZP-3601). AZP-3601 is a Phase III investigational therapeutic peptide designed to treat a rare hormone deficiency, chronic hypoparathyroidism.

“Chronic hypoparathyroid patients face a significant need for an alternative to current supportive therapies, which do not address the underlying hormone deficiency. As leaders in rare disease, Alexion is uniquely positioned to drive the late-stage development and global commercialization of eneboparatide, which has the potential to lessen the often-debilitating impact of low parathyroid hormone and avoid the risks of high-dose calcium supplementation,” Marc Dunoyer, CEO of Alexion, AstraZeneca said.

“We believe this program, together with Amolyt’s talented team, expertise and earlier pipeline, will enable our expansion into rare endocrinology.”

In its Phase II data, PTH receptor 1 (PTHR1) eneboparatide attained normalization of serum calcium levels along with the possibility to eradicate dependence on daily calcium and vitamin D supplementation. Additionally, for adult patients with chronic hypoparathyroidism and hypercalciuria, results demonstrated that eneboparatide standardized calcium in urine.

“We enthusiastically welcome the proposed acquisition of Amolyt by AstraZeneca, an organisation that shares our dedication to delivering life-changing treatments to people living with rare diseases. This agreement offers the opportunity to meaningfully advance our pipeline therapies. Strong Phase II data suggest eneboparatide has the potential to improve outcomes for patients and to shift the treatment paradigm for hypoparathyroidism, and we look forward to seeing the continued advancement of the Phase III trial,” said Thierry Abribat, CEO of Amolyt Pharma.

The deal is expected to close by the end of the third quarter of this year.

M&A action

AstraZeneca has invested heavily of late through various acquisitions. In June 2023, through its Alexion business, the firm added a portfolio of preclinical gene therapies from fellow Big Pharma firm Pfizer in a deal worth over $1 billion.

In November 2023, the company forked out $245 million to bolster its gene therapy pipeline through investing in Cellectis’ gene editing technologies and manufacturing products to design cell and gene therapy (CGT) products.

Furthermore, AstraZeneca advanced its cell therapy ambitions through the $1.2 billion deal to acquire Chinese biopharmaceutical company Gracell Biotechnologies in January.