By Padmanabhan Ananthan (Reuters) -Halozyme Therapeutics said on Wednesday it has agreed to acquire privately held Elektrofi in a deal worth up to $900 million to expand its drug delivery portfolio, sending its shares up 3% in morning trading. The deal comprises an upfront payment of $750 million and milestone payments of up to $150 […]
Health
Halozyme to buy Elektrofi in up to $900 million deal to expand drug delivery lineup
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By Padmanabhan Ananthan
(Reuters) -Halozyme Therapeutics said on Wednesday it has agreed to acquire privately held Elektrofi in a deal worth up to $900 million to expand its drug delivery portfolio, sending its shares up 3% in morning trading.
The deal comprises an upfront payment of $750 million and milestone payments of up to $150 million tied to three separate product approvals.
Elektrofi’s drug delivery technology, Hypercon, is designed to increase drug concentration by up to 4 to 5 times compared to standard formulations, thus helping to reduce the volume of injection for the same dosage, Halozyme said.
Halozyme said it plans to license Elektrofi’s technology to drugmakers with royalty revenue expected as early as 2030.
Halozyme CEO Helen Torley on an investor call said Elektrofi’s platform is a perfect complement for Halozyme’s proprietary drug delivery technology Enhanze, “which is the gold standard for rapid, high volume, subcutaneous delivery.”
Enhanze enables high volumes of a drug to be injected under the skin, potentially reducing the need for multiple injections.
Halozyme has licensed its technology to major drugmakers including Johnson & Johnson, AbbVie and Bristol Myers Squibb.
Elektrofi’s website said the Hypercon platform resolves limitations associated with formulating and delivering intravenous biologic therapies by developing low-volume, stable, hyper concentrated formulations for subcutaneous delivery.
“At home, patient delivery is a holy grail that just about every pharma and biotech company we’re speaking to is speaking… the Hypercon technology is a fit for this very large and growing biologic product opportunity that uniquely addresses unmet medical needs today and into the future,” Torley added.
Two Elektrofi partners are expected to start clinical testing of products using the technology by the end of 2026, or sooner, the companies said.
(Reporting by Padmanabhan Ananthan in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)