Phalguni Deswal
@Phalguni_GD
The news caused Acer’s stock to skyrocket by 140% when the markets opened on 31 August. Image Credit: 3rdtimeluckystudio / Shutterstock.
Zerva Therapeutics, formerly KemPharm, has announced a strategic acquisition of
Acer Therapeutics
to expand its rare therapies portfolio.
The biggest Acer assets include the marketed rare therapy Olpruva (sodium phenylbutyrate formulation), and late-stage drug celiprolol.
Recommended Reports
Reports
LOA and PTSR Model - Rozanolixizumab in Demyelinating Diseases
GlobalData
Reports
LOA and PTSR Model - Satralizumab in Demyelinating Diseases
GlobalData
View all
Companies Intelligence
Zevra Therapeutics Inc
Acer Therapeutics Inc
View all
The acquisition is expected to be worth up to $91m in stock and cash payments, of which $76m is contingent upon milestone-based payments for Olpruva and celiprolol. Additionally, Zerva purchased Acer’s secured debt at a discounted value of $35.3m from its creditor, Nantahala Capital.
The
news
caused Acer’s stock to skyrocket by 140% when the markets opened on 31 August. Zerva has a market cap of $165.25m, with a reported Q1 2023 revenue of $2.9m, as per the company’s
financial report
. Whilst Acer reported a loss of $8.1m in Q2 2023, as per the company’s
Q2 financials
.
Olpruva is an oral suspension approved for the treatment of urea cycle disorders by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2022. Urea cycle disorders are a type of rare genetic metabolic disorder that causes a build-up of toxic levels of ammonia.
Celiprolol is a beta-1 selective adrenoceptor antagonist with partial beta-2 agonist activity currently in Phase III (NCT05432466) clinical development for the rare connective tissue disorder, vascular Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.
Another Acer pipeline drug is the menopausal therapy,
ACER-801 (osanetant), which was licensed
from Sanofi. However, the drug development was paused after a Phase IIa trial failed to meet its primary endpoint.
Zerva’s marketed portfolio consists of Azstarys (serdexmethylphenidate and dexmethylphenidate), an attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) drug for children aged six years or older. Zerva has a licensing agreement with Corin for marketing Azstarys in the US.
The pipeline portfolio of Zerva includes
arimoclomol for treating Niemann-Pick Disease Type C
, and KP1077 for rare sleep disorders such as idiopathic hypersomnia and narcolepsy.