Merck & Co to acquire Inspire Pharmaceuticals
Expands and positions ophthalmology portfolio for future growth
Merck plans to buy Inspire, a specialist pharmaceutical company focused on developing ophthalmic products, based in Raleigh, NC, US, for US$430m in a move that will strengthen its eye care business and position it for future growth.
The move will give Merck access to Inspire’s Azasite (azithromycin ophthalmic solution), which is approved in the US for the treatment of bacterial conjunctivitis, as well as royalties on net sales of Restasis (cyclosporine ophthalmic emulsion) for dry eye and Diquas (diquafosol tetrasodium) in Japan.
Under the terms of the agreement, Merck will pay $5.00 per share in cash, a 26% premium over the closing price of on 4 April.
The boards of both companies have approved the deal and Inspire’s board has recommended that its shareholders tender their shares pursuant to the tender offer.
Private equity group Warburg Pincus, which owns approximately 28% of the outstanding stock of Inspire, has agreed to tender all of its shares into the offer.
In March, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted Merck’s New Drug Application (NDA) for Saflutan (tafluprost), a preservative-free prostaglandin analogue ophthalmic solution, for standard review. Saflutan is the proposed trade name for tafluprost in the US.
According to Beverly Lybrand, senior vice president and general manager of neuroscience and ophthalmology at Merck, the transaction ‘combines the talented commercialisation organisation at Inspire with the excellent team already at Merck’.
Adrian Adams, president and chief executive of Inspire, said Merck was ‘the ideal partner’ to enhance the long-term potential of its portfolio of ophthalmic assets.