(Reuters) -H Lundbeck A/S has agreed to buy Longboard Pharmaceuticals in a $2.6 billion deal to gain access to its potential blockbuster epilepsy drug, sending shares of the U.S.-based company up 43.9% in premarket trading.
The companies said Lundbeck will acquire Longboard’s shares for $60 each, which represents a premium of 54.2% to the stock’s last close of $38.90.
The deal, expected to close in the fourth quarter, will help Copenhagen-based Lundbeck expand its portfolio that includes treatments for neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s disease, migraine and Alzheimer’s disease.
Lundbeck expects to launch Longboard’s lead drug candidate, which aims to treat seizures associated with a group of epilepsies called Developmental and Epileptic Encephalopathies (DEEs), in the fourth quarter of 2028 and sees potential global peak sales between $1.5 billion and $2 billion.
The companies estimate that around 220,000 patients are affected by DEE syndromes in the United States.
DEEs are a group of severe early-childhood onset epilepsies, characterized by re-fractory seizures and developmental delay and regression.
Longboard’s drug, bexicaserin, is in late-stage development for seizures caused by Dravet syndrome.