Summary
- Biogen acquired Nightstar Therapeutics for $25.50 per share, which was worth $800 million.
- The move for Biogen to acquire Nightstar was for its AAV vector platform, which was built to deliver gene therapies to treat inherited retinal disorders.
- Nightstar has two late-stage gene therapy products which are NSR-REP1 for choroideremia and NSR-RPGR for X-linked retinitis pigmentosa.
- There has been a massive increase this year for either acquisitions or partnerships being formed with gene therapy companies, with the likelihood that more deals are likely on the way.
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Biogen (BIIB) announced that it would acquire Nightstar Therapeutics(NITE) for $25.50 per share. All said and done this purchase was worth $800 million. This latest deal by Biogen highlights the hype about either partnering with or acquiring gene therapy biotechs. That's because they offer potential for a one-off treatment. The enticement is that gene therapies are able to correct a defective gene in diseases that produce abnormal proteins. There are some risks that remain with these types of treatments, but I will admit that they offer massive potential compared to other types of developmental drugs.
