Durham-based drug developer BioCryst Pharmaceuticals will buy Presidio Pharmaceuticals, a West Coast company, in a $101 million stock deal, the companies said today.
Neither drug developer has a product out on the U.S. market today but both cited the potential synergies of combining their experimental hepatitis C antiviral drugs as well as partnering with oral antivirals made by competitors.
The deal is subject to regulatory review and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2013. The companies will combine under a new corporate name and remain headquartered in Durham, with operations in Birmingham, Alabama, and in San Francisco.
BioCryst is developing drugs to treat gout, influenza and hepatitis C. Its flu treatment, peramivir, was approved in Japan and Korea in 2010. Presidio specializes in developing antiviral treatments for hepatitis C.
Hepatitis C is a viral disease that leads to inflammation of the liver, which can result in discomfort, infection, cirrhosis and jaundice.
"We're creating this new company to pursue the development and commercialization of antiviral and orphan drugs," BioCryst CEO Jon Stonehouse said in a statement. "The diversity of our [hepatitis] portfolio reduces our clinical development risk and defines this new company as a serious competitor in the development of orally administered, safe and effective combination therapies for hepatitis C."
BioCryst employs 42 in Durham and 31 in Birmingham, while Presidio has 19 employees.
John Murawski has been a full-time newspaper reporter since 1991, with stints at Legal Times and The Chronicle of Philanthropy (both in Washington, DC), The Philadelphia Inquirer and The Palm Beach Post (in South Florida) before arriving at the N&O in December 2004. At the N&O he covers energy (nuclear, coal, renewable, efficiency), hydralic fracturing (or "fracking"), public utilities (both electric and natural gas) and health care. His beat includes Progress Energy, PSNC Energy, Piedmont Natural Gas, PowerSecure International, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, Novo Nordisk, Pfizer, Biogen Idec and others. You can reach him at 919-829-8932 or