Portola Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: PTLA) shares more than doubled on Tuesday after the company announced that it would be acquired by Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ALXN).
According to the deal, Alexion will pay $18 per Portola share in cash, a premium of 132% to Portola’s last closing price, for an aggregate price of $1.41 billion.
Essentially, Alexion is paying for Portola’s treatment for reversing the effects of blood thinners. The treatment, Andexxa, was approved in the United States in 2018 and had sales of $111.5 million in 2019.
Alexion has been trying to maintain its position as the top dog in the treatment of certain rare blood disorders through a string of acquisitions to increase its pipeline of rare disease drugs.
Last year, Alexion agreed to buy Achillion Pharmaceuticals for $930 million to acquire its rare blood disorder experimental treatments.
Portola stock traded up about 130% on Tuesday to $17.80, in a 52-week range of $5.31 to $36.49. The consensus price target is $19.57.
Alexion stock was down about 4% to $99.30. The 52-week range is $72.67 to $136.51, and the consensus price target is $139.45.
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