Norgine increases portfolio in Merus acquisition

Norgine develops, manufactures and sells its own products, including the constipation treatments Movicol, Moviprep and Plenvu, across Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

“This deal will give Norgine access to a portfolio of 12 established and highly profitable products,”​ Norgine spokesperson Isabelle Jouin told BioPharma-Reporter.com.

Merus’ portfolio includes products for oncology support, women’s health, cardiovascular, urology and infection diseases.

The agreement also offers gastroenterology, hepatology and cancer-focused Norgine the opportunity to license Merus’ late stage drug candidates, to then develop and commercialize through its infrastructure, she said.

“Merus’ products and platform will enable Norgine to accelerate its growth strategy by increasing our scale and our product range which, in turn, will help improve our ability to acquire new future late stage specialised products,”​ Jouin told us.

Full integration​

“At this particular time, no decisions have been made with regard to employees and other assets, however upon completion, Norgine would work closely with Merus to ensure full integration in order to maximise efficiencies and build on Merus’ infrastructure,” ​Jouin told us.

The transaction is to be financed through a combination of available cash and recently secured credit facilities, and is subject to court approval.

The Netherlands-headquartered Norgine expects the transaction to be finalised in the second half of 2017.

Norgine has a R&D site in Wales, and two manufacturing sites situated in Wales and France respectively.