Ipsen has been reshaping its drug lineup with deals, its latest deal being a $247 million deal, Get Epizymea cancer drug developer with a commercial product and a portfolio of other therapeutic candidates.
A key part of the acquisition is Tazverik, a third-line treatment for follicular lymphoma. While the drug is the first in a class of therapies to treat cancer by targeting a specific enzyme key to tumor growth, sales have been modest since it was approved by the FDA in 2020. Ipsen must now show that it can increase sales of the product in the increasingly competitive follicular lymphoma market.
Paris-based Ipsen will buy Epizyme for $1.45 a share, under financial terms announced Monday. The price represents a 52.6% premium to Epizyme’s closing price on Friday, but as financial market turmoil continues to hit shares across the biotech industry, Ipsen is still buying the company cheaply. A year ago, Epizyme’s stock was trading at about $8 a share.The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company listed $15 per share in 2013.
Tazverik’s 2021 revenue was $30.9 million, a 19.4% increase over 2020 sales. In the first quarter of this year, Epizyme reported sales of $8.6 million for the drug. The acquisition agreement commits to paying more to Epizyme shareholders based on Tazverik’s sales growth. The deal includes a contingent value option to pay an additional 30 cents per share when the drug’s sales reach $250 million for four consecutive quarters by the end of 2026, excluding Japan and Greater China.
Growth in Tazverik’s sales may depend on gaining regulatory approval as an early-stage treatment for follicular lymphoma. The drug has entered Phase 3 testing and is being evaluated in combination with Revlimid and rituximab, drug combination Currently used as a second-line treatment for cancer. Under the acquisition agreement, Ipsen committed to pay an additional 70 cents per share after Tazverik receives regulatory approval as a second-line treatment for follicular lymphoma by Jan. 1, 2028. The pivotal study is expected to report preliminary data in 2026.
on a Monday morning Investor introduction, Ipsen Chief Executive David Loew said approval of Tazverik as a second-line treatment for follicular lymphoma could push the drug to peak sales of $800 million. He added that the drug’s efficacy and safety make it particularly suitable for treating elderly and frail patients who are typically treated in community settings.
Tazverik is a small molecule designed to target EZH2, an enzyme that plays a role in cancer cell development and growth. In follicular lymphoma, the drug is approved to treat patients whose tumors are positive for EZH2 mutations. Months before the regulatory nod for follicular lymphoma in 2020, the FDA approved the drug to treat epithelioid sarcoma, a rare soft-tissue cancer.
In follicular lymphoma, Tazverik competes with CAR T-cell therapies Yescarta and Kymriah from Gilead Sciences and Novartis, respectively. As a small molecule, Tazverik’s oral formulation offers a dose advantage over infused cell therapy, which is manufactured in a lengthy, multi-step process.But the follicular lymphoma market earlier gained new treatment options Roche’s bispecific antibody Lunsumio receives approval in Europe. The drug is still awaiting a decision from the FDA.
The Epizyme pipeline includes EZM0414, a drug designed to block SETD2, an enzyme that plays a role in the cancerous process of cells. Epizyme has started a Phase 1/1b trial in multiple myeloma and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma that have relapsed or have not responded to earlier lines of therapy.
Ipsen’s sales last year were 2.9 billion euros ($3 billion). Somatuline, a synthetic hormone approved to treat acromegaly and intestinal and pancreatic tumors, is the company’s only top-selling product. The oncology portfolio also includes Cabometyx, which is approved for advanced kidney, liver and thyroid cancers. The drug was developed by Alameda, California-based Exelixis. A 2016 collaboration that paid Exelixis $210 million upfront gave Ipsen rights to the drug outside North America and Japan. Other deals bring early-stage cancer drug candidates to Ipsen’s pipeline.Last year, the company Small Molecule Rights Acquired from BAKX Therapeutics In preclinical development for leukemias, lymphomas and solid tumors.
The Ipsen and Epizyme boards have approved the Epizyme acquisition, which is expected to close by the end of the third quarter of this year.
Public area picture by the National Cancer Institute
