Vertex Pharmaceuticals is making the largest acquisition bet in its history, announcing late Monday an agreement to purchase a biotechnology company, Crinetics Pharmaceuticals, that recently brought to market a new kind of medicine for a rare hormonal disorder.
Vertex is paying $85 per share in cash, or $10 billion overall, for Crinetics. The deal ranks as the fourth largest, by total proceeds, in an already busy year for biotech company acquisitions, according to BioPharma Dive data. Additionally, among this year’s buyouts, the 102% premium Vertex is paying trails only the 140% markup in Biogen’s March purchase of Apellis Pharmaceuticals, data show.
Vertex will fund the acquisition with cash on hand and debt. The deal should close in the third quarter, the company said.
The purchase is the latest attempt by Vertex to branch out beyond a cystic fibrosis drug business that regularly brings in more than $10 billion annually. That franchise involves a handful of medicines and has turned Vertex into one of the biopharmaceutical industry’s most valuable companies. But Vertex has had trouble replicating that success elsewhere, leading to persistent questions about its growth and a push by the company to fortify its drug pipeline.
