Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc announced the purchase of Chimerix Inc. (Nasdaq : CMRX). $8.55 The total cash consideration for each share is approximately 935 Million Dollars. The deal will close during the second quarter 2025 at a price that is 75% higher.
Jazz stated that this acquisition would create a durable additional revenue opportunity, with patent protection up to 2037 and the possibility of receiving a term extension. The company is buying the business with its existing investments and cash. The company’s cash and cash equivalents, as well as its investments, totaled $3 billion by December 31, 2024.
Chimerix’s leading clinical asset is dordaviprone. It’s a first-in class, novel small-molecule therapy in development for high-grade diffuse glioma (H3 K27M), a rare brain tumour that affects mostly children and young people. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has not approved any therapies for patients with H3 K27M mutations of diffuse glioma. Radiation is currently the most commonly used treatment.
“Adding dordaviprone to our oncology R&D pipeline will further diversify our portfolio with a medicine that addresses a significant unmet need with no other FDA-approved therapies and limited treatment options for this patient population. Dordaviprone, if approved, has the potential of rapidly becoming a standard-of-care for a rare cancer disease. It could also generate durable revenue in the short term. Bruce CozaddJazz Pharmaceuticals, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “We are encouraged by the dordaviprone clinical trial results to date and look forward to closing the proposed acquisition and working with our new colleagues from Chimerix to fully leverage our combined R&D and commercial expertise to deliver this novel therapy to patients, beginning as early as the second half of this year.”
The Drug Potential
Recently, the FDA accepted a New Drug Application for Priority review of dordaviprone to be used as an accelerated treatment in H3K27M-mutant diffuse cancers. According to the company, FDA set a deadline for Prescription Drug User Fee Act Act (PDUFA). August 18, 2025. According to the press release, “If approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, dordaviprone might be eligible for Rare Pediatric Disease Priority Review Voucher.” Dordaviprone was also studied separately in the ongoing Phase III ACTION study, evaluating the use of the drug in patients with newly diagnosed diffuse glioma (H3 K27M mutant) who have not recurred after treatment.
Jazz Pharmaceuticals is a global pharmaceutical company that will broaden the scope of our business strategy, said Mike AndrioleChimerix President and CEO. The transaction would allow dordaviprone access to be extended to more patients around the world if it were approved. The announcement represents the culmination years of work done by our talented and dedicated team. It will provide significant value for our shareholders.
Diversification
Jazz announced its earnings for 2025 on the 26th of February and stated that it intended to diversify revenue streams. Jazz announced that product sales rose by 2%, to $3.8 Billion in 2024. Total revenues reached $4 Billion. Epidiolex/Epidyolex is a cannabis drug that treats epilepsy. In 2024, it had net revenues of $972,4 million. This represented 25 percent of the total company net product sales.
In Japan, the company informed investors that it is conducting a Phase III trial for Lennox Gastaut Syndrome, Dravet Syndrome, and Tuberous Sclerosis Complex. The company will announce the top-line trial results in August 2024. However, the company noted that the trial did not meet the primary efficacy endpoint of a pre-specified percentage change in indication-associated seizure frequency during the treatment period (up to 16 weeks) compared to baseline in Japanese pediatric patients; however, numeric improvements were observed in the primary and several secondary endpoints. Jazz stated that it will continue to collect data from Japanese patients, and plan to work with Japanese regulatory authorities regarding the potential submission of a new drug.