Pain medication company Collegium Pharmaceutical is expanding its reach with the acquisition of BioDelivery Sciences International, a specialty pharmaceutical company built around a technology platform that enables pain medication to be administered through a dissolvable film placed on the inside of the cheek.
Stoughton, Mass.-based Collegium will pay $5.60 per share of BDSI, a 54% premium to the company’s closing price on Friday, under financial terms released Monday. The Raleigh, North Carolina-based all-cash deal values BDSI at about $604 million.
Collegium’s portfolio includes two commercialized pain products, both oral opioids for 24/7 pain management. Xtampza ER contains oxycodone and is taken in capsules every 12 hours, while the Nucynta franchise consists of three different strengths of tapentadol tablets that patients take every 4 to 6 hours. The two drugs generated $310 million in revenue in 2020, according to Collegium’s financial statements. Meanwhile, BDSI’s top-selling product, Belbuca, uses the company’s dissolvable film technology to manage the opioid buprenorphine. The drug had product sales of $136.1 million in 2020.
Collegium CEO Joe Ciaffoni said on Monday’s conference call that portfolio diversification is one of his firm’s top priorities, and that BDSI is “a top priority.” Ciaffoni added that Belbuca complements rather than competes with Collegium’s current drug lineup.
“We do see this acquisition as complementary, with these products clearly positioned in different parts of the pain market,” he said.
The acquisition will also bring another BDSI product to Collegium. Elyxyb is an oral solution approved by the FDA for the treatment of acute migraine in adults. Last September, BDSI acquired U.S. and Canadian rights to the drug from Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories and plans to launch the new asset in the first quarter of 2022. Ciaffoni declined to comment on plans to commercialize the migraine drug, other than to say that the drug provides Collegium with a strategic foothold in neurology, a priority area for the company.
Collegium nears completion of corporate restructuring Announce 20% layoffs in November last year. The BDSI acquisition has been unanimously approved by the boards of both companies, and the transaction is expected to close by the end of the first quarter of this year. Based on BDSI’s estimated 2021 operating expenses, Collegium expects to generate synergies of at least $75 million annually. This is Collegium’s second major acquisition in as many years. Nucynta products pass 2020 deals The company paid Assertio Therapeutics $375 million in exchange for U.S. access to the drugs.
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