AstraZeneca concludes acquisition of Icosavax
Cambridge: AstraZeneca has announced the successful completion of the acquisition of Icosavax, Inc., a US-based clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing differentiated, high-potential vaccines using an innovative, protein virus-like particle (VLP) platform. As a result of the acquisition, Icosavax has become a subsidiary of AstraZeneca, with operations in Seattle, US.
The acquisition will build on AstraZeneca’s expertise in respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), strengthening AstraZeneca’s Vaccines & Immune Therapies late-stage pipeline with Icosavax’s investigational vaccine candidate, IVX-A12. IVX-A12 is a potential first-in-class, Phase III-ready, combination protein VLP vaccine which targets both RSV and human metapneumovirus (hMPV), two leading causes of severe respiratory infections and hospitalisations in adults 60 years of age and older and those with chronic conditions such as cardiovascular, renal and respiratory disease.
The acquisition was completed through a tender offer to purchase all outstanding shares of Icosavax for a price of $15.00 per share in cash up front, plus a non-tradable contingent value right for up to $5.00 per share in cash, payable upon achievement of a specified regulatory milestone and a specified sales milestone, which was followed by a statutory merger through which all shares of Icosavax stock that had not been validly tendered were converted into the right to receive the same consideration.
Combined, the upfront and contingent value rights payments, if achieved, represent a transaction value of approximately $1.1bn. As of the expiration of the tender offer, 35,912,932 shares of Icosavax were validly tendered and not validly withdrawn from the tender offer, representing approximately 70.7% of the outstanding shares of common stock of Icosavax, and such shares have been accepted for payment and will be paid for promptly in accordance with the terms of the tender offer. Icosavax shares will be delisted from the Nasdaq Stock Market, and Icosavax will terminate its registration under the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
