LogicBio takeout brings new skills, platform to Alexion
AZ unit finds entry point to gene therapy in $68M acquisition
A year that has left LogicBio in danger of being delisted from NASDAQ after an FDA clinical hold punished its stock has given AZ’s Alexion unit an inexpensive path toward adding a gene editing team and new modality to its rare disease franchise. It also gives the biotech’s team, led by President and CEO Frederic Chereau, the opportunity to continue developing its core gene editing technology, one that had already attracted a trio of partners, including two pharma.
Alexion, the rare disease group of AstraZeneca plc (LSE:AZN; NASDAQ:AZN), proposed to acquire Lexington, Mass.-based LogicBio Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:LOGC) on Monday for $2.07 per share in cash, or $68 million. The offer price is a 667% premium compared with LogicBio’s Friday close of $0.27, a level reflecting clinical setbacks amid the ongoing biotech bear market...