An indication stands outside a Abbvie facility in Cambridge, Massachusetts, May 20, 2021.
Brian Snyder | Reuters
AbbVie on Wednesday said it is going to acquire neuroscience drugmaker Cerevel Therapeutics for roughly $8.7 billion.
Under the terms of the deal, AbbVie pays $45 per share for Cerevel. AbbVie said it expects to complete the acquisition in the course of 2024.
Shares of Cerevel jumped 16% after the close Wednesday to nearly $43 per share, slightly below the acquisition price. Shares of Abbvie were down lower than 1% in prolonged trading.
The deal is AbbVie’s latest attempt to expand its drug pipeline as its top-selling treatments, equivalent to Humira, face generic competition. Just last week, AbbVie agreed to buy cancer drug developer Immunogen for nearly $10 billion.
Cerevel will specifically beef up AbbVie’s portfolio for psychiatric and neurological disorders “where significant unmet needs remain,” according to a release from AbbVie.
Cerevel will bring over drugs equivalent to Emraclidine, an experimental treatment for each schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s disease psychosis, including symptoms like hallucinations and delusion. That drug is currently in a phase one study in elderly volunteers.
“Our existing neuroscience portfolio and our combined pipeline with Cerevel represents a big growth opportunity well into the following decade,” said Richard Gonzalez, CEO and chairman of AbbVie, in a press release. “AbbVie will leverage its deep industrial capabilities, international infrastructure, and regulatory and clinical expertise to deliver substantial shareholder value with multibillion-dollar sales potential across Cerevel’s portfolio of assets.”
AbbVie said it is going to hold an investor conference call concerning the deal on Thursday at 8:00 a.m. ET.