The deal to acquire Dova Pharmaceuticals includes an upfront payment of $27.50 (£22.35) per share in cash, as well as one non-tradeable contingent value right (CVR).
Dova Pharmaceuticals president and CEO Dr David Zaccardelli said: “On behalf of the Board of Directors, I’d like to thank our employees and shareholders for their continued support and dedication to our mission of providing novel and effective therapeutic options for patients with thrombocytopenia; we believe Sobi is ideally positioned to continue that mission.”
In 2016, Dova Pharmaceuticals was established for the commercialisation of Doptelet (avatrombopag) to treat thrombocytopenia (low platelet counts).
With around 125 employees, Dova Pharmaceuticals produces commercial product Doptelet, an oral thrombopoietin (TPO) receptor agonist administered with food.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and European Medicines Agency (EMA) have approved Doptelet to treat thrombocytopenia in adults with chronic liver disease (CLD).
In June this year, the company also secured FDA approval for Doptelet to treat chronic immune thrombocytopenia (ITP). The company plans to file an application for Doptelet in early 2020 in Europe.
The acquisition of Dova will help Sobi to expand its product portfolio into haematology and enhance commercial presence in the US.
Dova is also carrying out a phase 3 trial in chemotherapy-induced thrombocytopenia (CIT), a common side effect of chemotherapy that causes due to the low number of platelets.
Sobi president and CEO Guido Oelkers said: “The cadence of upcoming launches and approvals across indications and regions that Doptelet provides, enables us to further accelerate growth in our haematology franchise.
“There is a large unmet medical need within thrombocytopenia and for us this is a great opportunity to be able to give patients access to new and improved treatments.”
Subject to clearance under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act and other customary closing conditions, the deal is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of this year.
With around 1,300 employees across the globe, Sobi is a specialised international biopharmaceutical company that conducts operations across Europe, North America, the Middle East, Russia and North Africa.
In January this year, Sobi completed the acquisition of US rights of Synagis (palivizumab) from AstraZeneca in a deal valued at around $1.6bn (£1.3bn).