Roche to buy Spark Therapeutics in $4.3B deal
Health & Human Services Secretary Alex Azar on the Trump administration's efforts to reduce drug prices, mounting concerns over the marketing of e-cigarettes and the surge in the FDA's approval of generic drugs.
Roche pulled the trigger Monday morning on a biotech deal.
Roche is buying Philadelphia biotechnology company Spark Therapeutics for $4.3 billion.
It is a move by the Swiss drugmaker to expand its presence treating hemophilia.
Roche will pay $114.50 per share for Spark, more than twice the U.S. company closing price on Feb. 22.
"As the only biotechnology company that has successfully commercialized a gene therapy for a genetic disease in the U.S., we have built unmatched competencies in the discovery, development and delivery of genetic medicines. But the needs of patients and families living with genetic diseases are immediate and vast," said Jeffrey D. Marrazzo, chief executive officer of Spark Therapeutics. "With its worldwide reach and extensive resources, Roche will help us accelerate the development of more gene therapies for more patients for more diseases and further expedite our vision of a world where no life is limited by genetic disease."
Therapies that replace a defective gene with a healthy one are an emerging class of treatment pioneered by companies including Spark. It was founded in 2013 out of gene-therapy research at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
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Pfizer has partnered with Spark on development of a hemophilia B treatment.
Spark's shares are up about 30 percent this year.