Seeing a nice fit in the GI arena of specialty pharma and an open door to a bigger European presence, Shire has agreed to pay $565 million for Movetis (MOVE), a Belgian biotech which has one product on the market. Movetis's board has already agreed to Shire's offer of €19 per share, a 74 percent premium over yesterday's close.
"This offer is a further remarkable milestone in Movetis' brief and dynamic history," said Staf Van Reet, the chairman of the board. "In October last year we gained the authorization to market Resolor in 30 European countries, this was followed by our successful IPO on NYSE Euronext in December 2009 and the commercial launch of Resolor in the first European markets in the first half of 2010. This rapid development has now led to receipt of an offer to join forces with Shire, one of the most valuable specialty pharmaceutical companies with a strong specialty presence in the U.S. and Europe."
In the joint announcement, the companies said that Movetis's European staff--which includes R&D--in Belgium, the UK and Germany will be integrated into the Shire (SHPGY) corporate structure, with Movetis CEO Dirk Reyn in charge of the European operation.
"Taking our other assets in development into account," says Reyn, "we have one of the strongest global and European product portfolios in gastroenterology." The deal comes just a day after the UK's healthcare watchdog NICE gave its seal of approval to Resolor.
- take a look at Movetis' release
- read this report for more