Savient Pharma in Asset Sale
Savient Pharmaceuticals
(SVNT)
Wednesday said it had agreed to sell its biologics manufacturing business to a Swiss company for $80 million, as part of its new focus on drug development.
Savient announced a definitive agreement with two subsidiaries of
Ferring
, a privately owned specialty biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland.
The New Jersey-based company last summer first disclosed its plan to refocus its business.
Pending regulatory approvals, the deal is expected to close by the end of the next quarter. Savient estimates it will net $70 million, after taxes and other considerations.
Savient said the transaction "provides us with the capital to drive the advancement" of its leading drug candidate, Puricase, and also "pursue licensing or acquisition opportunities."
Puricase lowers uric acid levels that contribute to gout, a disease causing severe joint pain and possible damage to joints and tendons. The company said that phase II clinical trials, which are nearing completion, have established that Puricase is safe enough to continue on to phase III trials, the last stage before submitting the drug for approval by the Food and Drug Administration.
Shares were up 3 cents, or 1%, to $2.81.