UPDATE 2-AstraZeneca to buy Amolyt Pharma for $1.05 bln to boost rare-disease portfolio
(Adds comments from Alexion CEO in paragraph 5)
March 14 (Reuters) - Drugmaker AstraZeneca said on Thursday it would acquire endocrine diseases-focused firm Amolyt Pharma for $1.05 billion in cash, in a bid to boost its rare diseases portfolio.
France's Amolyt, backed by investors including Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk's parent firm Novo Holdings and EQT Life Sciences, is currently in the late-stage development of a therapy for hypoparathyroidism called eneboparatide.
The deal, which includes an $800 million upfront payment and an additional contingent payment of $250 million on achieving a specified regulatory milestone, is expected to close by the third quarter of 2024.
Revenue from AstraZeneca's rare diseases portfolio, boosted by the $39 billion acquisition of Alexion in 2021, has swelled in recent years, to nearly $7.8 billion in 2023.
Eneboparatide, which is expected to be launched next year, has blockbuster potential, Alexion CEO Marc Dunoyer told Reuters in an interview.
Over the near decade since AstraZeneca fended off a takeover by U.S. rival Pfizer, CEO Pascal Soriot has rebuilt the Anglo-Swedish drugmaker's pipeline, which includes 13 blockbuster medicines - those that generate more than $1 billion in annual sales.
Last month, Soriot said it was a "good time" for AstraZeneca do deals, after a string of acquisitions including a licensing deal late last year that gave it an entry into the booming anti-obesity drug market.
(Reporting by Eva Mathews in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza and Rashmi Aich, Kirsten Donovan)
