Teva To Commence Tender Offer To Acquire Auspex Pharma - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (TEVA) and Auspex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (ASPX) announced they have entered into a definitive merger agreement under which Teva will commence a tender offer for all of the outstanding shares of Auspex at $101.00 per share in cash, representing total consideration of approximately $3.2 billion in enterprise value and approximately $3.5 billion in equity value. Following the successful completion of the tender offer, Teva will acquire all remaining shares not tendered in the tender offer through a second-step merger at the same price as to be paid to stockholders tendering their shares in the tender offer.

Auspex is a biopharmaceutical company specializing in applying deuterium chemistry to known molecules to create novel therapies with improved safety and efficacy profiles. In 2014, Auspex reported positive results from its Phase 3 clinical trial for SD-809 in Huntington's disease, with plans to submit a NDA for this indication by mid-2015. SD-809 has been granted orphan drug designation for the treatment of Huntington's disease by the FDA, and Auspex expects regulatory approval and commercial launch for this indication in 2016 in the United States.

Teva Pharma expects the transaction to begin contributing to revenues in 2016 with the anticipated launch of SD-809 for Huntington's disease and to be accretive to non-GAAP EPS beginning in 2017 with minimal dilution to non-GAAP EPS in the second half of 2015 and 2016.