Background:
This week began with Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) announcing a deal to buy the development and commercialization rights of Concert Pharmaceuticals' (NASDAQ:CNCE) cystic fibrosis pipeline candidate, CTP-656 for a cost of $160 million. The results of this deal saw the shares of Concert Pharma rise 62% on Monday while Vertex's share price increased about 1% after the announcement.
Cystic Fibrosis is a very rare, life-threatening disease estimated to affect nearly 50,000 people in North America, Europe and Australia. Vertex enjoys a dominant position in this market, as they are one of the first companies to have already successfully developed a drug to tackle the disease.
Concert is currently evaluating CTP-656 in a study in patients with cystic fibrosis. Once complete, Vertex will be responsible for the drug's development. Vertex will also acquire rights to all of Concert's other cystic fibrosis research as per the deal outlined.
