Amgen To Buy Horizon

Amgen has been one of our top-performing stocks this year. The drug company has strong cash flow and scored a win with early trials showing positive data for their anti-obesity drug. Amgen are now in advanced talks to buy drug company Horizon Therapeutics in a deal likely to be valued well over $20 billion, marking the largest healthcare merger of the year. The Vestact-recommended company is the last of three suitors standing in an auction for Horizon after Sanofi and J&J capitulated.

Horizon develops medicines to treat rare autoimmune and severe inflammatory diseases, which are sold mostly in the US. Their biggest-selling drug, Tepezza, treats thyroid eye disease, an affliction characterised by progressive inflammation and damage to tissues around the eyes.

Horizon received regulatory approval for Tepezza in January 2020. Last year, revenue from Tepezza more than doubled, driving Horizon's overall sales 47% higher to $3.23 billion. Horizon expects Tepezza's global sales to peak at more than $4 billion as the company seeks approval to sell its drugs in Europe and Asia starting with Japan.

In October, Amgen completed a $3.7 billion deal for ChemoCentryx and its drugs that treat inflammatory and autoimmune diseases as well as cancer. Adding Horizon to the lineup will strengthen their rare immune-disease catalog which currently also includes Enbrel and Otelza immune-disease therapies.