United Therapeutics to Acquire SteadyMed up to $216 Million

Rare Daily Staff

United Therapeutics is strengthening its arsenal by agreeing to acquire orphan drug company SteadyMed for $141 million and up to an additional $75 million in a milestone.

Under the terms of the agreement, United Therapeutics will pay $4.46 per share in cash at closing and up to an additional $2.63 per share in cash upon the achievement of a milestones related to the commercialization of SteadyMed’s pulmonary arterial hypertension combination therapy Trevyent in a deal worth up to $216 million.

Trevyent is a development-stage drug-device combination product that combines SteadyMed’s two-day, single use, disposable PatchPump technology with treprostinil, a vasodilatory prostacyclin analogue, for the subcutaneous treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension. The milestone payment tied to Trevyent is worth a total of $75 million.

PAH is rare progressive that affect the ability of the heart to pump blood to the lungs because of a narrowing of the blood vessels and an elevation of blood pressure. United Therapeutics already market four products for PAH

“We are optimistic about acquiring SteadyMed and adding Trevyent to our pipeline of products to treat PAH,” said Martine Rothblatt, chairman and CEO of United Therapeutics. “We are especially impressed with SteadyMed’s management team and global supply chain. Trevyent fits in well with our mission, and we look forward to bringing the product to the maximum number of patients as soon as possible.”

The board of SteadyMed has unanimously approved the merger agreement and unanimously recommended that shareholders adopt the merger agreement. SteadyMed shareholders owning approximately 43.3 percent of the ordinary shares of SteadyMed have entered into an agreement to vote their shares in favor of the transaction.

The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including approval by SteadyMed’s shareholders and the expiration or termination of the required waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act, and is expected to be completed in the third quarter of this year.

“United Therapeutics has always been at the forefront of developing therapies to treat PAH, and we are delighted at the prospect of our companies coming together, as one, to continue that mission,” said Jonathan M.N. Rigby, president and CEO of SteadyMed. “We believe that this proposed acquisition will help us realize our commitment to bring Trevyent to market to improve the lives of patients with PAH.”

May 2, 2018
Photo: Martine Rothblatt, CEO of United Therapeutics (By Andrea Chung -20140912-Martine-Rothblatt-5773.jpg: Owner and Copyright holder is Andre Chung derivative work: Bit7ocker – This file was derived from  -20140912-Martine-Rothblatt-5773.jpg)