AbbVie announced on Wednesday that it plans to buy Cerevel Therapeutics, a company that makes drugs for the brain, for about $8.7 billion. As part of the agreement, AbbVie will pay $45 for each share of Cerevel.
The acquisition is anticipated to be finished by the middle of 2024. After this news, the stock of Cerevel increased by 16% to almost $43 per share, which is slightly below the buying price. AbbVie’s stock, on the other hand, dropped by less than 1% during extended trading.
AbbVie’s Plan to Get More Medicines
AbbVie is working to grow its collection of drugs because some of its most popular treatments, like Humira, are now competing with generic versions. In a recent move, AbbVie decided to purchase Immunogen, a company focused on cancer drugs, for almost $10 billion. Moreover, according to the research, Artificial Intelligence (AI) may be as reliable as doctors for diagnosing skin cancer, researchers says
The acquisition of Cerevel is part of AbbVie’s strategy to strengthen its range of medications for psychiatric and neurological disorders, where there are still significant gaps in available treatments, as stated in a release from AbbVie.
AbbVie’s Acquisition of Cerevel Therapeutics
Cerevel will contribute drugs like Emraclidine to AbbVie, which is an experimental treatment designed for both schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s disease psychosis. It targets symptoms such as hallucinations and delusions. Emraclidine is currently undergoing phase one testing in elderly volunteers.
Richard Gonzalez, the CEO and chairman of AbbVie, stated, “Our existing neuroscience portfolio and our combined pipeline with Cerevel represents a significant growth opportunity well into the next decade.”
He added that AbbVie plans to use its commercial capabilities, international infrastructure, and expertise in regulation and clinical matters to create substantial value for shareholders. This is expected to result in multibillion-dollar sales potential across Cerevel’s portfolio of assets.
AbbVie has announced an investor conference call about the deal, scheduled for Thursday at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time.
Summary
AbbVie’s $8.7 billion acquisition of Cerevel Therapeutics, part of its broader strategy for drug portfolio expansion, aims to address gaps in psychiatric and neurological treatments. The move follows AbbVie’s $10 billion investment in cancer drug developer Immunogen. The company anticipates significant growth opportunities and plans to discuss the deal further in an investor conference call on Thursday.
