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Sprout Pharmaceuticals to be Acquired by Valeant Pharmaceuticals in $1 Billion Deal
Aug. 20, 2015 01:24PM PST
Biotech InvestingValeant Pharmaceuticals (NYSE:VRX) has announced a deal to acquire Sprout Pharmaceuticals, the company that just won the FDA’s approval for the controversial female libido drug Addyi.
Valeant Pharmaceuticals (NYSE:VRX) has announced a deal to acquire Sprout Pharmaceuticals, the company that just won the FDA’s approval for the controversial female libido drug Addyi.
According to Fierce Biotech:
An aggressive biopharma buyer that’s currently in hot water with Congress over the way it multiplies a drug’s price once it’s in the portfolio, Valeant says it is paying $500 million upfront and another $500 million in Q1 2016 for a clean takeout that includes hiring up all 25 or so employees at Sprout as they go about the most closely-launched drug launch in recent times. Sprout investors will also get a share of the profits.
Valeant billed the buyout as a move into women’s health, with plans to build a new division around this drug.
A host of advocates and critics divided over the question of whether Addyi–twice rejected at the FDA–should have been given the green light on the third try. Supporters who helped stoke an influential social media campaign to pressure the FDA for an approval contended that the agency was guilty of gender bias in its regular approval of therapies for male sexual health while women had nothing similar.