PTC Therapeutics Announces it Will Buy Agilis Biotherapeutics for $200M

It was on Thursday that PTC Therapeutics announced that it plans to acquire five-year old Agilis Biotherapeutics, a gene-therapy start up.

PTC Therapeutics will pay $200 million plus incentives. The company has agreed to pay $50 million in cash and $150 million in stock, with an estimated maximum limit of 9.34 million shares. If that share count doesn’t meet the $150 million target, the rest will be made up in cash.

According to PTC, Agilis has promising biologics candidate that seeks to treat Aromatic L-Amino Acid Decarboxylase, or AADC, deficiency, a rare disorder of the central nervous system. The company also claims that Agilis has other gene-therapy candidates focused on rare diseases as well.

The company stated, “Based on multiyear data from initial clinical studies with the AADC gene therapy treatment candidate, PTC plans to submit a Biologics License Application (BLA) to the FDA in 2019.”

“The addition of the gene therapy platform transforms PTC and aligns with our vision of being a leader in the treatment of rare disorders,” said Stuart Peltz, PTC’s chief executive officer, in a statement.

“We are impressed with the clinical results shown by the AADC program and are excited with the potential to quickly bring this therapy to patients. We look forward to advancing the Friedreich ataxia and Angelman syndrome programs into the clinic in the next two years.”

The merger is expected to close in the third quarter.

Disclaimer: We have no position in PTC Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: PTCT) and have not been compensated for this article.