UK: Shire, Baxalta complete $32B merger

Shire said today it has completed its $32 billion merger with Baxalta, creating what it called the global market leader in rare diseases and other specialized disorders.

Shire projected that the combined company would generate approximately 65% of its total annual revenues from its rare disease products—revenues the company has forecast as rising to more than $20 billion by 2020, with double-digit compound annual top-line growth.

The combined company would consist of more than 22,000 employees across more than 100 countries, as well as more than 50 programs in clinical development, balanced across early-, mid-, and late-stage projects.

Shire brings to the combined company products in gastrointestinal/endocrine diseases, hereditary angioedema (HAE), neuroscience, and lysosomal storage diseases. Baxalta—which is now an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Shire—is contributing products in its specialty areas of hematology, immunology, and oncology.

“Upon the completion of our combination with Baxalta, Shire is now the global leader in rare diseases, with the number one rare diseases platform based on both revenue and pipeline programs,” Shire CEO Flemming Ornskov, M.D., M.P.H., declared in a statement.

The Shire–Baxalta merger completion comes a week after shareholders of both companies voted to approve the deal. Shire and Baxalta announced their plans to merge in January, with Shire saying it expected to carry out more than $500 million in cost-cutting or “synergies” within the first 3 years after the deal closes.

Full Content: Telegraph

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