Supernus makes melancholy drug play with $795m Sage buyout

Share worth in Sage surged 26% at market open within the US following the announcement on 16 June. Credit score: Wirestock Creators through Shutterstock.

Fewer than 5 months after rejecting a takeover method by Biogen, Sage Therapeutics has discovered a purchaser in Supernus Prescribed drugs.

Based on the deal, Supernus pays as much as $795m to amass melancholy therapy specialist Sage. The contract worth considerably eclipses the $469m provided by Biogen in January 2025, a proposal that was swiftly rejected by Sage.

The transaction has been authorized by the boards of administrators of each US-headquartered firms and is predicted to shut in Q3 2025.

Share worth in Sage surged 26% at market open within the US following the announcement on 16 June whereas Supernus shares opened 1% greater.

In an announcement, the 2 biotechs mentioned that Sage is a “sturdy match with present Supernus infrastructure”. Supernus has authorized merchandise within the US to deal with Parkinson’s illness and a focus deficit hyperactivity dysfunction (ADHD), amongst others.

Supernus is buying all shares of Sage for a worth of $8.50 every, totalling an preliminary $561m. A further $3.50 per share can be added to the deal relying on gross sales and industrial milestones for Sage’s flagship product Zurzuvae (zuranolone), giving a possible deal worth of $795m.

Zurzuvae, whose possession rights will now switch to Supernus, is the one US Meals and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved capsule to deal with postpartum melancholy. The acquisition affords Supernus a dominant place available in the market.

Co-developed with Biogen, Zurzuvae earned Sage $36.1m in gross sales in 2024 and $13.8m in Q1 2025.

Following a 2020 settlement, Biogen has the unique licence to develop and commercialise Zurzuvae exterior the US, excluding Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea. Sage, and now Supernus, retains US rights.

Evaluation by Pharmaceutical Expertise‘s dad or mum firm GlobalData forecasts US gross sales of the drug to succeed in $290m by 2031.

Sage struggled late final yr with a collection of mid-stage medical trial failures. The corporate laid off 55% of its R&D staff because of this, prioritising the industrial launch of Zurzuvae as a substitute.

Supernus’s CEO Jack Khattar mentioned: “[The acquisition] augments our development profile by including a major fourth development product to our portfolio and additional diversifies our sources of future development. Zurzuvae aligns with our deal with buying novel value-enhancing and clinically differentiated medicines to deal with central nervous system circumstances.”

“We have now a confirmed monitor file of sturdy industrial execution, and we stay up for constructing on Zurzuvae’s US development momentum and collaboration with Biogen, in order that extra girls with postpartum melancholy can profit from this novel therapy.”

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