Article Summary:
AstraZeneca has agreed to pay $1.1 billion to acquire Icosavax to expand its reach in advanced vaccine technology with Icosavax’s innovative vaccine platform. Icosavax’s lead candidate, heading toward a phase 3 study, is an innovative vaccine that combines the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and human metapneumovirus (hMPV). AstraZeneca will pay $15 per share to Icosavax shareholders, representing a 43% premium over Monday’s closing price, with potential for additional financial incentives.
Article Details:
Icosavax (ICVX) shares soared over 48% in early trading on Tuesday after AstraZeneca (AZN) agreed to purchase the biotech company for $1.1 billion to expand its advanced vaccine technology. Through the deal, AstraZeneca will gain access to Icosavax’s “virus-like particle (VLP) platform.” Their leading experimental therapy is a phase 3-ready vaccine that uses VLPs to prevent RSV and hMPV. These are major causes of respiratory illness and hospitalization in people aged 60 and older or those with other chronic conditions. AstraZeneca added that there are currently no effective treatments or preventive therapies for hMPV or combined RSV and hMPV vaccines.
Iskra Rajic, AstraZeneca’s executive vice president for vaccines and immune therapies, noted that VLP vaccine technology “has the potential to transform the prevention of serious infectious diseases, including RSV and hMPV.”
The company clarified that AstraZeneca will pay Icosavax investors $15 per share in cash at closing, with the potential for an additional $5 per share upon achieving a specific regulatory milestone and sales milestone. At $15 per share, the acquisition represents a 43% premium over Icosavax’s closing price on Monday. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of next year.
Icosavax shares rose 48.1% around 12:45 PM ET on Tuesday following the news. AstraZeneca’s American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) also increased by 0.8%.
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Source: https://www.investopedia.com/why-astrazeneca-is-buying-icosovax-8414679
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