Servier has entered into an agreement for the acquisition of Agios Pharmaceuticals’ oncology business including its commercial, clinical and research-stage oncology portfolio for up to $2 billion, including an upfront payment of $1.8 Billion and a potential $200 million in regulatory milestone, plus royalties.
The transaction has been approved by both companies’ respective boards of directors. Subject to receipt of regulatory clearances and approval by Agios’ shareholders, the acquisition is expected to close in Q2 2021.
Servier has made oncology one of its strategic priorities, allocating 50% of its overall research and development budget to this therapeutic area. The acquisition will reinforce Servier’s presence in the U.S., where the group has been operating since 2018.
The transaction includes the transfer of Agios’ oncology portfolio and associated employees, including its marketed medicine Tibsovo, which is approved in the U.S. as monotherapy for the treatment of adults with IDH1-mutant relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia and for adults with newly diagnosed IDH1-mutant AML who are ≥75 years old or who have comorbidities that preclude the use of intensive induction chemotherapy.
Tibsovo is also under investigation in two phase III combination trials in newly diagnosed AML, and as a potential treatment for previously treated IDH1-mutant cholangiocarcinoma and IDH1-mutant myelodysplastic syndrome. Servier will also acquire Agios’ co-commercialization responsibilities for Bristol Myers Squibb’s Idhifa (enasidenib) and conduct certain clinical development activities within the Idhifa development program.
In addition, the transaction includes Agios’ oncology pipeline and clinical programs, including vorasidenib, an investigational, brain-penetrant, dual inhibitor of mutant IDH1 and IDH2 which is currently being studied in the registration-enabling phase III INDIGO study in patients with IDH-mutant low-grade glioma; AG-270, an investigational first-in-class methionine adenosyltransferase 2a inhibitor being evaluated in combination with taxanes in patients with methylthioadenosine phosphorylase-deleted non-small cell lung cancer and pancreatic cancer; AG-636, a novel inhibitor of dihydroorotate dehydrogenase; and Agios’ oncology research programs.
All of Agios’ U.S.-based employees who primarily support the oncology business will receive a comparable offer at Servier.
