UCB pads epilepsy portfolio with $1.9B Zogenix takeout

With a patent expiration looming for a key anticonvulsive drug, UCB is acquiring Zogenix in a $1.9 billion deal that gives the Belgian biotech an epilepsy drug already approved for one indication, with another approval possible within months.

The takeout gives UCB S.A. (Euronext:UCB) rights to Fintepla fenfluramine, an amphetamine derivative approved in the U.S. and EU to treat Dravet syndrome. Fintepla is under FDA priority review for another rare seizure disorder, Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, with a PDUFA date of March 25; it is also under EMA review for that indication...