CARLSBAD, Calif. and BOSTON, Aug. 31, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Ionis Prescription drugs, Inc. (NASDAQ: IONS) and its affiliate Akcea Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKCA) at the moment introduced that they’ve entered right into a definitive settlement beneath which Ionis will purchase all the excellent shares of Akcea frequent inventory it doesn’t already personal, roughly 24{5667a53774e7bc9e4190cccc01624aae270829869c681dac1da167613dca7d05}, for $18.15 per share in money. This corresponds to a complete transaction worth of roughly $500 million on a totally diluted foundation. The transaction has been accepted by the Ionis and Akcea Boards of Administrators, and by the unbiased Affiliate Transactions Committee of Akcea’s Board of Administrators. Akcea’s Board of Administrators has really helpful to shareholders of Akcea that they tender their shares into the tender provide.
“This acquisition is one other step ahead in Ionis’ evolution and creates a stronger, extra environment friendly group to the good thing about all stakeholders,” stated Brett Monia, Chief Government Officer of Ionis. “We imagine turning into one firm – with one imaginative and prescient and one set of strategic priorities, led by one staff – will ship vital strategic worth, enhancing the long run success of our firm, accelerating our subsequent section of progress and positioning us to most successfully ship our medicines to sufferers. Following the completion of the transaction, Ionis will retain extra worth from Akcea’s wealthy pipeline and business merchandise, additional strengthening our monetary place and supporting continued investments in our future.”
“Akcea values the talents, expertise and experience of our groups and I’m happy with what we have achieved in growing and delivering transformational medicines to sufferers,” stated Damien McDevitt, Chief Government Officer of Akcea. “This acquisition by Ionis is a testomony to the achievements of the Akcea staff.”
“This transaction delivers rapid and sure worth with a premium to Akcea shareholders,” stated Barbara Yanni, Chair of the Akcea Affiliate Transactions Committee. “Our shut collaboration with Ionis has been key to enabling the launch of two business antisense medicines in simply two years in addition to advancing a late-stage pipeline and securing necessary partnerships.”
SIGNIFICANT FINANCIAL BENEFITS
This transaction additionally additional strengthens Ionis’ monetary place:
- Ionis will notice extra monetary upside from Akcea’s wealthy pipeline and business merchandise.
- Ionis will achieve full entry to Akcea’s vital money available of roughly $390 million as of June 30, 2020 and future money flows to additional spend money on the Firm’s future and additional help Ionis’ capital allocation technique.
- Ionis will obtain significant price synergies.
TERMS OF THE AGREEMENT
Underneath the phrases of the settlement, Ionis will start a young provide for all excellent shares of Akcea frequent inventory not already owned by Ionis at a worth of $18.15 per share in money. The closing of the tender provide can be topic to a majority of Akcea’s shares not already owned by Ionis, its associates or their respective administrators and govt officers being tendered within the tender provide.
Promptly following the completion of the tender provide, Ionis will purchase all remaining shares of Akcea frequent inventory on the similar worth of $18.15 per share in money by way of a second-step merger. Ionis and Akcea count on to finish the transaction within the fourth quarter of 2020, topic to different customary closing circumstances.
Ionis expects to fund the acquisition by way of current money sources. The transaction shouldn’t be topic to any financing situation.
ADVISORS
Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC and Stifel, Nicolaus & Firm, Included are serving as monetary advisors to Ionis, and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP is serving as authorized counsel to Ionis. Cowen is serving as monetary advisor to the Affiliate Transactions Committee of Akcea’s Board of Administrators, and Ropes & Grey LLP is serving as authorized counsel to the Affiliate Transactions Committee of Akcea’s Board of Administrators.
ABOUT IONIS PHARMACEUTICALS, INC.
Because the chief in RNA-targeted drug discovery and growth, Ionis has created an environment friendly, broadly relevant, drug discovery platform referred to as antisense expertise that may deal with ailments the place no different therapeutic approaches have confirmed efficient. Our drug discovery platform has served as a springboard for actionable promise and realized hope for sufferers with unmet wants. We created the primary and solely accepted therapy for youngsters and adults with spinal muscular atrophy in addition to the world’s first RNA-targeted therapeutic accepted for the therapy of polyneuropathy in adults with hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis. Our sights are set on all of the sufferers we’ve but to achieve with a pipeline of greater than 40 novel medicines designed to probably deal with a broad vary of ailments, together with neurological, cardio-renal, metabolic, infectious, and pulmonary ailments.
To be taught extra about Ionis go to www.ionispharma.com or comply with us on twitter @ionispharma.
ABOUT AKCEA THERAPEUTICS, INC.
Akcea Therapeutics, Inc., a majority-owned affiliate of Ionis Prescription drugs, Inc. (NASDAQ: IONS), is a biopharmaceutical firm targeted on growing and commercializing medicines to deal with sufferers with critical and uncommon ailments. Akcea is commercializing TEGSEDI® (inotersen) and WAYLIVRA® (volanesorsen), in addition to advancing a mature pipeline of novel medicines, together with AKCEA-APO(a)-LRx, vupanorsen (AKCEA-ANGPTL3-LRx), AKCEA-APOCIII-LRx, and AKCEA-TTR-LRx, with the potential to deal with a number of ailments. All six medicines have been found by Ionis, a frontrunner in antisense therapeutics, and are based mostly on Ionis’ proprietary antisense expertise. TEGSEDI is accepted within the U.S., E.U., Canada and Brazil, and WAYLIVRA is accepted within the E.U. Akcea is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, and is constructing the infrastructure to commercialize its medicines globally. Further details about Akcea is accessible at www.akceatx.com and you’ll comply with the Firm on twitter at @akceatx.
Discover to Traders and Safety Holders
The tender provide referred to on this communication has not but commenced. The outline contained on this communication is neither a suggestion to buy nor a solicitation of a suggestion to promote any securities, neither is it an alternative choice to the tender provide supplies that Ionis will file with the Securities and Change Fee (the “SEC”). The solicitation and provide to purchase shares of Akcea frequent inventory will solely be made pursuant to a suggestion to buy and associated tender provide supplies. On the time the tender provide is commenced, Ionis will file a young provide assertion on Schedule TO and thereafter Akcea will file a solicitation/advice assertion on Schedule 14D-9 with the SEC with respect to the Provide. THE TENDER OFFER MATERIALS (INCLUDING AN OFFER TO PURCHASE, A RELATED LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL AND CERTAIN OTHER OFFER DOCUMENTS) AND THE SOLICITATION/RECOMMENDATION STATEMENT ON SCHEDULE 14D-9 WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION. AKCEA SHAREHOLDERS ARE URGED TO READ THESE DOCUMENTS CAREFULLY WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION THAT HOLDERS SHOULD CONSIDER BEFORE MAKING ANY DECISION REGARDING TENDERING THEIR SHARES. The provide to buy, the associated letter of transmittal and the solicitation/advice assertion can be made obtainable freed from cost on the SEC’s web site at www.sec.gov. Further copies could also be obtained without spending a dime by contacting Ionis or Akcea, as relevant. Copies of the paperwork filed with the SEC by Ionis can be obtainable freed from cost on Ionis’ web web site at https://ir.ionispharma.com/financial-information/sec-filings or by contacting Ionis’ investor relations contact at (760) 603-2681. Copies of the paperwork filed with the SEC by Akcea can be obtainable freed from cost on Akcea’s web web site at https://ir.akceatx.com/ or by contacting Akcea’s investor relations contact at (617) 841-9535.
Along with the provide to buy, the associated letter of transmittal and sure different tender provide paperwork to be filed by Ionis, in addition to the solicitation/advice assertion to be filed by Akcea, Ionis and Akcea can even file quarterly and present stories with the SEC. Ionis’ and Akcea’s filings with the SEC can be found to the general public from business document-retrieval companies and on the web site maintained by the SEC at http://www.sec.gov.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Ionis Prescription drugs, Inc. and Akcea Therapeutics, Inc. assume no obligation to replace forward-looking statements contained on this communication because of new info or future occasions or developments besides as required by legislation. This press launch consists of forward-looking statements concerning the enterprise of Akcea Therapeutics, Inc. and Ionis Prescription drugs, Inc., the therapeutic and business potential of TEGSEDI® (inotersen) and WAYLIVRA® (volanesorsen) and the proposed acquisition of Akcea which can be topic to dangers and uncertainties that might trigger precise outcomes to vary materially from these expressly or implied by such statements. Any assertion describing Akcea’s or Ionis’ targets, expectations, monetary or different projections, intentions or beliefs, together with the business potential of TEGSEDI and WAYLIVRA or different of Akcea’s or Ionis’ medicine in growth is a forward-looking assertion and needs to be thought of an at-risk assertion. Such statements are topic to sure dangers and uncertainties, significantly these inherent within the strategy of discovering, growing and commercializing medicine which can be secure and efficient to be used as human therapeutics, and within the endeavor of constructing a enterprise round such medicine. Dangers and uncertainties additionally embrace, amongst different issues, dangers associated to the satisfaction or waiver of the circumstances to closing the proposed acquisition within the anticipated timeframe or in any respect, together with uncertainties as to what number of of Akcea’s stockholders will tender their Shares within the tender provide and the likelihood that the acquisition doesn’t shut; disruption from the transaction making it harder to keep up enterprise and operational relationships; dangers that anticipated synergies won’t be realized or could also be delayed; and the magnitude of transaction prices. Akcea’s and Ionis’ forward-looking statements additionally contain assumptions that, in the event that they by no means materialize or show right, may trigger its outcomes to vary materially from these expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Though Akcea’s and Ionis’ forward-looking statements replicate the great religion judgment of its administration, these statements are based mostly solely on info and elements at the moment identified by Akcea and Ionis. Particularly, we warning you that our forward-looking statements are topic to the continued and growing circumstances associated to the COVID-19 pandemic, which can have a cloth adversarial impact on our enterprise, operations and future monetary outcomes. Because of this, you’re cautioned to not depend on these forward-looking statements. These and different dangers regarding Akcea’s and Ionis’ applications are described in further element in Akcea’s and Ionis’ quarterly stories on Kind 10-Q and annual stories on Kind 10-Okay, that are on file with the SEC. Copies of those and different paperwork can be found from every firm.
On this press launch, until the context requires in any other case, “Ionis,” “Akcea,” “Firm,” “we,” “our,” and “us” refers to Ionis Prescription drugs or Akcea Therapeutics, as relevant.
Ionis Prescription drugs™ is a trademark of Ionis Prescription drugs, Inc. Akcea Therapeutics®, TEGSEDI® and WAYLIVRA® are logos of Akcea Therapeutics, Inc.