(Bloomberg) -- Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. agreed to buy Alpine Immune Sciences Inc. for a total equity value of about $4.9 billion, adding the biotech company’s immune treatments in its biggest acquisition ever.

Vertex will pay $65 a share in cash for Alpine, the companies said Wednesday in a statement, 67% more than Alpine’s closing price Tuesday of $38.94. Alpine shares rose as much as 37% Thursday when US markets opened. They had gained 21% in regular trading Wednesday after Bloomberg News reported Seattle-based Alpine was considering a sale, 

Working to move beyond its core business of cystic fibrosis treatments, Boston-based Vertex recently gained US approval for Casgevy, a gene editing therapy for sickle cell disease and beta thalassemia that was developed in collaboration with Crispr Therapeutics AG. Vertex is also studying a kidney drug, called inaxaplin, that’s in late-stage trials for treatment of proteinuric kidney disease. 

Alpine’s lead drug, povetacicept, blocks two inflammatory proteins called cytokines that sometimes spur the body to attack its own tissues. The company is testing the treatment in a form of kidney disease, as well as other autoimmune diseases, including lupus and a blood disorder called cytopenia. 

A final-stage trial of the drug in the kidney disorder, called IgA nephropathy, is expected to start in the second half of 2024. The condition affects about 130,000 people in the US, with many worsening to end-stage renal disease, which can be fatal. 

‘Best-in-Class’

The drug is a “best-in-class therapy,” with data indicating disease-modifying benefit, William Blair analysts Myles Minter and Sami Corwin said in a note. “Given povetacicept could have applications beyond IgAN, we see it potentially becoming a multibillion-dollar product.”

Read More: Alpine Immune Is Said to Weigh Options After Takeover Interest

The deal also boosted the shares of Vera Therapeutics Inc., which is developing a drug to treat an autoimmune disease affecting the liver. Vera’s shares rose as much as 5.5%. Analysts at Evercore ISI upgraded Vertex to outperform from in-line; its shares gained as much as 1.8% at the start of trading Thursday. 

Big drugmakers have taken a growing interest in smaller biotechs working on kidney therapies. Last year, Swiss drugmaker Novartis AG agreed to buy Chinook Therapeutics Inc, which is developing drugs for a rare kidney disease, for as much as $3.5 billion. 

The Alpine deal is worth $4.6 billion net of cash acquired, and is expected to close later this quarter, according to the statement. Vertex’s latest big deal came in 2019, when it agreed to buy Semma Therapeutics, a private biotech developing a treatment for type 1 diabetes, for $950 million in cash.

Lazard is financial adviser to Vertex on the deal, while Alpine is being advised by Centerview Partners.

 

(Updates shares starting in second paragraph.)

©2024 Bloomberg L.P.