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Novo Nordisk to buy RNAi therapy developer Dicerna for $3.3 billion

Novo Nordisk entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Dicerna Pharmaceuticals for $38.25 per share in cash, or a total equity value of around $3.3 billion, the companies said Thursday. The purchase builds on a 2019 research collaboration between the parties to develop therapies for the treatment of liver-related cardio-metabolic diseases using Dicerna's GalXC RNA interference (RNAi) technology platform.

The purchase price represents a premium of 80% to Dicerna's closing share price on November 17. The transaction, which has been approved by the boards of both companies, is expected to close in the fourth quarter.

Accelerates RNAi research

Marcus Schindler, chief scientific officer of Novo Nordisk, noted that the acquisition "accelerates [our] research within RNAi and expands the usage of the RNAi technology." Dicerna's RNAi-based therapies are being developed to selectively silence genes that cause or contribute to disease, while the company's technology platform enables access to intracellular disease targets across hepatic and extrahepatic cell and tissue types.

The original collaboration includes more than 30 liver cell targets with the potential to deliver a number of clinical candidates for disorders including non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, type 2 diabetes, obesity and rare diseases. Earlier this year, Dicerna said that Novo Nordisk nominated the first candidate under the agreement, with clinical studies expected to begin in 2022.

Mixed data for lead candidate

Dicerna's lead internal RNAi therapeutic candidate nedosiran recently met the primary endpoint of a pivotal study for the treatment for primary hyperoxaluria (PH). However, the company's shares were hit as results showed that while nedosiran was effective in patients with PH type 1, it did not offer the same benefit in those with PH type 2 (for related analysis, see ViewPoints: Dicerna's PH win comes with qualifiers).

Meanwhile, Dicerna has signed agreements with a number of pharmaceutical companies, including Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Boehringer Ingelheim, Eli Lilly and Roche.

November 18, 2021

https://www.firstwordpharma.com/

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