By Siddhi Mahatole and Bhanvi Satija
June 1 (Reuters) – Edgewise Therapeutics on Monday agreed to sell its muscular dystrophy drug and related business to Servier in a deal worth up to $2.65 billion, marking an expansion for the French group beyond its core cancer and cardiovascular therapies.
Edgewise will receive $1.55 billion in cash upfront for global rights to the experimental drug, sevasemten, which targets Becker and Duchenne muscular dystrophy. It will also be eligible to get up to $1.1 billion if certain milestones are met.
The transaction comes nearly three months after Servier’s deal to acquire Day One Biopharma for $2.5 billion, expanding its brain tumor treatment portfolio.
Servier CEO David Lee said the acquisition represents a “three legs to the stool type approach” needed to enter neurology. He added that the U.S. is the primary growth engine for Servier’s rare disease pivot, and the company is “being very deliberate” about where it builds infrastructure.
Sevasemten has shown muscle function benefits in Becker patients and reductions in muscle damage markers, alongside a favorable safety profile in earlier trials. Pivotal late-stage data is expected in the fourth quarter, and Servier plans to maintain that timeline.
“We hope for accelerated approval,” Lee told Reuters.
While Becker currently has no approved treatments, Duchenne has several, including Sarepta Therapeutics’ gene therapy, Elevidys.
Truist analyst Srikripa Devarakonda, who estimates peak sales of up to $1.04 billion for Becker, noted sevasemten was previously “under the radar or met with skepticism.”
“We see enough where we believe that it is worth taking a risk and worth kind of building a commercial organization to prepare for this launch,” Lee said.
Shares of the U.S.-based Edgewise rose as much as 14.3% to an all-time high of $40.8.
Leerink analyst Joseph Schwartz said the sale removes a key overhang and shifts focus to Edgewise’s heart drug, EDG-7500, making the positive share reaction “unsurprising.”
The sale, expected to close in the third quarter, will help Edgewise develop EDG-7500 and strengthen its balance sheet. 12-week data from the drug’s mid-stage trial is expected in the second quarter.
(Reporting by Siddhi Mahatole in Bengaluru and Bhanvi Satija in London; Editing by Leroy Leo and Shailesh Kuber)
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