Novo Nordisk’s Forma Buy Builds On Foothold In Rare Blood Disorders

 
• By Jessica Merrill
  
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Novo's head of rare disease Ludovic Helfgott talked to Scrip about the $1.1bn acquisition and expansion into sickle cell disease.

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Novo Nordisk is acquiring Forma, investing in sickle cell disease • Source: Shutterstock

Novo Nordisk A/S has been working to diversify outside of its core therapeutic areas in diabetes and obesity and announced on 1 September an agreement to buy Forma Therapeutics Inc. to forward that goal. The Danish pharmaceutical company will pay $1.1bn, or $20 per share, to buy Watertown, Mass-based Forma, gaining a mid-stage clinical candidate for sickle cell disease (SCD) and thalassemia.

The acquisition price marks a 49% premium over Forma's closing stock price of $13.40 on 31 August and 92% over...

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