As a biopharma exec, Philippe Lopes-Fernandes had followed Ipsen’s $1.3 billion buyout of Clementia and what then-CEO David Meek called a “largely derisked” rare disease program.
Ipsen has terminated a pivotal trial of its troubled rare disease drug palovarotene in response to the ongoing clinical hold. The action likely deprives Ipsen of a shot at generating data to bring a drug it bought in a $1.3 billion (€1.2 billion) deal to market in a blockbuster indication.
Ipsen recorded a €669m pretax charge in the last quarter of 2019 from the failure of its palovarotene rare disease drug, but still managed to increase profits thanks to healthy sales growth.
Ipsen has struck a deal with Blueprint Medicines to add another treatment for fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP) to its rare disease pipeline. The backloaded, $535 million (€485 million) deal comes months after Ipsen paid $1 billion to buy Clementia Pharmaceuticals for an FOP therapy.
Clementia Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: CMTA) is pleased to announce that it has obtained an interim order from the Québec Superior Court in connection with the previously announced plan of arrangement pursuant to which a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ipsen S.A. is proposing to acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Clementia for US$25.00 per share in cash upfront on completion of the transaction plus a deferred payment on the achievement of a future regulatory milestone in the form of a contingent value right (CVR) of US$6.00 per share payable upon the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) acceptance of the New Drug Application (NDA) filing for palovarotene for the treatment of multiple osteochondromas (MO) on or prior to December 31, 2024.
Ipsen is set to pay out a total of $1.3bn to buy Clementia Pharmaceuticals in a move that will significantly boost its rare disease portfolio.