Pharma BD Deal Intelligence
Horizon Therapeutics plc agreed on February 1, 2021 to acquire Viela Bio, Inc. for $53.00 per share in cash, a fully diluted equity value of approximately $3.05 billion (about $2.67 billion net of Viela's cash and equivalents). The deal closed March 15, 2021 via tender offer and merger after holders of ~94% of shares tendered. Viela, a 2018 MedImmune/AstraZeneca spinout, brought Horizon its first approved autoimmune medicine, Uplizna (inebilizumab) for neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD), plus a clinical pipeline (VIB7734/daxdilimab, VIB4920/dazodalibep) and a Uplizna expansion program in myasthenia gravis. AstraZeneca, holding ~26.7% of Viela, netted roughly $760-780 million. Horizon itself was later acquired by Amgen, which completed its ~$27.8 billion purchase on October 6, 2023, folding Uplizna into Amgen's rare-disease portfolio.