AstraZeneca to buy vaccine developer Icosavax for up to $1.1 billion

AstraZeneca to buy vaccine developer Icosavax for up to $1.1 billion

Drugmaker AstraZeneca said on Tuesday it had agreed to buy infectious disease vaccine developer Icosavax in a deal valued at up to $1.1 billion to bolster its respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine portfolio.

The deal values Icosavax at $15 per share in cash at closing, plus a non-tradable contingent value right for up to $5 per share in cash if certain milestones are met.

The upfront payment of $15 a share represents a premium of about 43% to U.S.-listed Icosavax's last close.

"We believe it (the deal) offers the opportunity to accelerate, and expand access to, our potential first-in-class combination vaccine for older adults at risk from RSV and hMPV," Icosavax CEO Adam Simpson said in a separate statement.

Icosavax's lead programme is a combination vaccine candidate targeting respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) - a common and contagious virus - and human metapneumovirus (hMPV) - a virus, discovered in 2001 that causes upper and lower respiratory disease, especially among young children and older adults.

The U.S. company, which made its market debut on the Nasdaq in 2021, also announced positive interim results from its mid-stage trial of the vaccine on Tuesday.

There are currently no treatment or prevention options for hMPV.