Amgen announces plans to acquire Horizon for $27.8bn in biggest pharma deal for 2022

Amgen has announced its plans to acquire biopharmaceutical company, Horizon Therapeutics (Horizon), in a deal worth approximately $27.8bn, making it the biggest pharma buyout for 2022.

The agreement, first reported by The Wall Street Journal, marks the largest transaction of its kind since Alexion’s buyout by AstraZeneca for $39bn in 2021.

The acquisition will see Amgen pay $116.50 for each Horizon share in cash, a premium of around 19.7% to the closing price on 9 December 2022.

In November this year it was revealed that Horizon had been in takeover discussions with Amgen, Johnson & Johnson and Sanofi.

In a press release issued on 11 December, Sanofi disclosed that it did not intend to make an offer for Horizon, as ‘transaction price expectations do not meet [its] value creation criteria’.

Amgen will benefit from gaining several approved therapies as part of the deal, with Horizon’s pipeline of rare autoimmune and inflammatory disease drugs bolstering Amgen’s offering.

Included in this is Horzion’s Tepezza, a prescription treatment for patients with thyroid eye disease – also known as Graves' Orbitopathy –  Horizon's largest selling drug, which doubled to $1.66bn in 2021 from the year before. The thyroid eye drug is projected to make sales of $3.85bn in 2028.

Speaking on the announcement, Robert Bradway, chairman and chief executive officer of Amgen said: "The acquisition of Horizon is a compelling opportunity for Amgen and one that is consistent with our strategy of delivering long-term growth by providing innovative medicines that address the needs of patients who suffer from serious diseases.

“Amgen's decades of leadership in inflammation and nephrology, combined with our global presence and world-class biologics capabilities, will enable us to reach many more patients with first-in-class medicines like Tepezza, Krystexxa and Uplizna. Additionally, the potential new medicines in Horizon's pipeline strongly complement our own R&D portfolio."

Amgen intends to fund the acquisition through cash and debt, having initiated a credit agreement of $28.5bn with Bank of America and Citibank. The company anticipates that the deal will be finalised in the first half of 2023.

Tim Walbert, chairman, president and chief executive officer, Horizon, said:"Amgen is aligned with that commitment and passion and will continue to maximise the value of the current portfolio and pipeline and accelerate the ability to reach more patients globally."