AstraZeneca acquires US-based biopharmaceutical company

Drugmaker AstraZeneca revealed late on Monday afternoon that it had successfully completed its acquisition of US-based biopharmaceutical company Icosavax.

AstraZeneca said the acquisition will build on its expertise in respiratory syncytial virus, strengthening the group's vaccines and immune therapies late-stage pipeline with Icosavax's lead investigational vaccine candidate, IVX-A12 - a potential first-in-class, Phase III-ready, combination protein VLP vaccine which targets both RSV and human metapneumovirus.

The FTSE 100-listed firm noted that the acquisition was completed through a tender offer to purchase all outstanding shares of Icosavax for a price of $15.00 per share in cash up front, plus a non-tradable contingent value right for up to $5.00 per share in cash, payable upon achievement of a specified regulatory milestone and a specified sales milestone.

Combined, the upfront and contingent value rights payments, if achieved, represent a transaction value of approximately $1.1bn. As of the expiration of the tender offer, 35.91m shares of Icosavax were validly tendered and not validly withdrawn from the tender offer, representing approximately 70.7% of the outstanding shares of common stock of the group.

As of 1020 GMT, AstraZeneca shares were down 0.63% at 10,352.0p.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com