CinCor Pharma

History

2023: AstraZeneca bought CinCor Pharma for $1.8 billion

On January 9, 2023, AstraZeneca announced the acquisition of American drug developer CinCor Pharma for $1.8 billion. Thanks to this deal, the buyer expects to expand his range of medicines for the heart and kidneys.

The main element of the deal is the experimental drug CinCor baxdrostat, which is in development to treat diseases such as high blood pressure and chronic kidney disease. AstraZeneca is set to combine baxdrostat with its drug Farxiga, a diabetes drug that saw sales soar after it was proven to also help patients with heart failure and kidney disease.

AstraZeneca bought an American drug developer for $1.8 billion.

Farxiga, whose sales jumped nearly 50% to $3.2 billion in the first nine months of 2022, belongs to a highly competitive class of drugs that includes rivals such as Boehringer Ingelheim's Jardiance and Eli Lilly. AstraZeneca derives about a third of its revenue from cancer drugs, but heart, kidney and diabetes drugs are the company's second most profitable business by sales, generating roughly $6.9 billion of the drugmaker's total revenue of more than $33 billion in the first three quarters of 2022.

Farxiga and cancer drugs Lynparza and Calquence could face generic competition as early as 2024, analysts at BMO Capital Market said in a note last week, citing the company's own assumptions and filings. The combination of baxdrostat with Farxiga could allow AstraZeneca to extend Farxiga's franchise, said Mene Pangalos, executive vice president of biopharmaceutical research and development at AstraZeneca.

Although the drug successfully passed phase II trials to treat resistant hypertension, it failed to outperform placebo in another mid-stage study involving patients with uncontrolled high blood pressure.

The Anglo-Swedish drugmaker on January 9, 2023 agreed to pay $26 per share of CinCor or $1.3 billion, which is a premium of almost 121% to the closing price of the American company on January 5.

The offer also includes a non-tradable right to a notional value of $10 per share in cash paid after submitting a certain regulatory document for baxdrostat.^[1]

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