Mitsubishi Tanabe to acquire NeuroDerm for $1.1bn

The deal will help MTPC grow its product pipeline in the central nervous system disease area. The company intends to offer patients with innovative drugs for unmet medical needs.  

Headquartered in Rehovot, NeuroDerm focuses primarily on developing and manufacturing drugs for Parkinson's disease and has three clinical stage product candidates in development.

MTPC plans to use NeuroDerm's lead candidate ND0612 to achieve its sales target of JPY80bn ($720m) in the US by the financial year 2020.

ND0612, a drug being developed to treat Parkinson's disease, is currently undergoing a phase 3 trial in the US and Europe and is targeted to be launched in the financial year 2019.

According to NeuroDerm CEO Oded S. Lieberman, the transaction is believed to deliver benefits to the company’s shareholders and Parkinson’s disease patients who are urgently in need of new treatments.

Lieberman added: “MTPC has demonstrated development and commercialization expertise in the field of neurology and we are confident that the combination of their resources and the robust data supporting ND0612, our Phase III Parkinson’s disease product candidate, will help make this important new therapy available as broadly and rapidly as possible.”

As per the terms, Mitsubishi Tanabe will buy 100% of all the shares NeuroDerm, each priced at $39. It will establish a merger subsidiary in Israel solely for the transaction which will merge into NeuroDerm to make it the lone surviving entity.

The board of directors of NeuroDerm has unanimously approved the transaction. NeuroDerm will hold a special meeting this fall to seek approval for the deal from its shareholders.

Subject to regulatory approvals, the transaction is expected to close during the fourth quarter of the year.

Image: NeuroDerm develops drugs for treating central nervous system (CNS) disorders, especially Parkinson’s disease. Photo: courtesy of renjith Krishnan/Freedigitalphotos.net.