Acorda Therapeutics To Buy Biotie Therapies In $363 Mln Deal

(RTTNews) - Acorda Therapeutics Inc. (ACOR) said that it entered into an agreement to acquire Biotie Therapies Corp. (BITI) for €23.5680 per ADS in cash, or the equivalent of $25.60 per ADS, which values Biotie at about $363 million.

Acorda noted that it will obtain worldwide rights to tozadenant, an oral adenosine A2a receptor antagonist currently in Phase 3 development in Parkinson's disease (PD). In a Phase 2b clinical trial, tozadenant reduced average daily OFF time as an adjunct to treatment regimens including levodopa/carbidopa.

Further expanding its Parkinson's pipeline, Acorda will also obtain global rights to SYN120, an oral, 5-HT6/5-HT2A dual receptor antagonist for Parkinson's-related dementia, in Phase 2 development with support from the Michael J. Fox Foundation.

The acquisition also includes two other assets: BTT1023, a fully human monoclonal antibody in Phase 2 development for treatment of primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), a chronic liver disease; and double-digit royalties from sales of Selincro, a European Medicines Agency (EMA)-approved therapy for reduction in alcohol consumption marketed by H. Lundbeck A/S in multiple European countries.

Acorda has agreed to issue $75 million of common stock in a private placement transaction. Acorda intends to use the net proceeds from the issuance of the Shares to fund, in part, the acquisition of Biotie. The issuance of the Shares is not contingent upon the consummation of the acquisition of Biotie or the terms of the acquisition. If the acquisition of Biotie is not consummated for any reason, the Company will use all of the net proceeds from the issuance of the Shares for general corporate purposes. The closing of the private placement is expected to occur in January 2016 and is subject to customary closing conditions.

Acorda also received a commitment from JPMorgan Chase, N.A. for an asset-based loan facility for up to $60 million. The closing of this transaction is expected to occur within six weeks and is subject to customary closing conditions. Acorda had $353 million in cash at year-end 2015 (unaudited). Following the close of the transaction, the Company expects the net proceeds from the common stock issuance, together with the availability under the asset-based credit facility, to be sufficient to fund ongoing operations.