Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited announced on Monday, 1/9, its intentions to acquire Ariad Pharmaceuticals in a deal with a $5.2 billion price tag, with each Ariad share amounting to $24 cash. The deal, unanimously approved by the board of directors, is expected to close in February. 

“The acquisition of ARIAD is a unique opportunity that will enable us to positively impact the lives of more patients worldwide, advance our strategic priorities and generate attractive returns for our shareholders,” said Christophe Weber, President and Chief Executive Officer of Takeda. The company will broaden its hematology portfolio and add two target therapies for the treatment of solid tumors.

Ariad’s two innovative precision medicines that Takeda will acquire as part of the deal are Iclusig® (ponatinib) and brigatinib. Iclusig, Ariad’s leukemia drug, is expected to have generated sales of approximately $170-$180 million in 2016, while an FDA approval is anticipated for brigatinib in the first half of 2017 as well as more than $1 billion in sales. Brigatinib is intended for the treatment of anaplastic lymphoma kinase positive (ALK+) non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), particularly for patients whose disease is resistant to crizotinib.

“Both ARIAD and Takeda are passionate about helping cancer patients, and I believe the talent and resources of Takeda coupled with ARIAD’s pipeline and people will accelerate the development of cancer treatments,” said Alexander J. Denner, Ph.D., Chairman of the Board of ARIAD.

“Opportunities to acquire such high-quality, complementary targeted therapies do not come often, and we are very excited about the potential for this transaction to benefit patients, our shareholders and other stakeholders,” said Weber.

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