Shire adquiere Baxalta ($32 Billion) Nace "the world’s biggest maker of drugs for rare diseases".

Shire to Combine with Baxalta in Deal Valued at About $32 Billion

• Baxalta holders to get $18 in cash, 0.1482 of Shire's ADRs
• Shire expects to cut more than $500 million a year in costs 

Shire Plc won over Baxalta Inc. by adding cash to sweeten a takeover bid worth about $32 billion and become the world’s biggest maker of drugs for rare diseases. 

The planned acquisition will boost Dublin-based Shire’s position in the market for rare-disease treatments, which is projected to grow by more than 60 percent over the next five years to $176 billion, according to market researcher EvaluatePharma. The combined company would generate more than $20 billion in sales by 2020. 

With Baxalta, Shire also gains a dominant position in providing treatments for hemophilia, a bleeding disorder that affects only about 20,000 people in the U.S. Baxalta’s drug Advate, for hemophilia A, can cost $200,000 to $500,000 a year and is well reimbursed by insurers. That would add to Shire’s collection of rare-disease drugs, which includes Cinryze for an inflammatory disease. Cinryze is among Shire’s best-sellers and one of the most expensive medicines in the world, costing as much as $630,000 a year.
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Rare Diseases 

The Baxalta deal is Shire’s latest focus on companies with treatments for rare diseases, including the November purchase of Dyax Inc. for $5.9 billion and the $5 billion acquisition of NPS Pharmaceuticals Inc. in February 2015. Shire has been bulking up following AbbVie Inc’s abandoned $52 billion buyout of the company last year. The deals also lessen the company’s dependence on treatments for attention-deficit and hyperactivity disorder, such as Vyvanse, its best-selling drug. 

Shire is registered in Jersey, in the Channel Islands, and based for tax purposes in Ireland.(Más)