Incyte to acquire ARIAD's European operations

Incyte Corp. and ARIAD Pharmaceuticals today announced an agreement that allows Incyte to acquire all shares of ARIAD's European operations. 

After the transaction is complete on June 1, Incyte will obtain a license to develop and commercialize Iclusig (ponatinib) in Europe.

Under the terms of the acquisition, Incyte will acquire all shares of ARIAD Pharmaceutical's European subsidiaries for $140 million. ARIAD will receive tiered royalties on the net sales in the European Union and 22 other countries. In addition, Incyte will fund part of the Iclusig OPTIC and OPTIC-2L clinical trials in 2016 and 2017. ARIAD will retain the U.S. licensing rights to Iclusig. 

“The acquisition of ARIAD’s European operations is a unique and strategic opportunity for Incyte, which will further establish our medical and commercial footprint in Europe,” Incyte CEO Hervé Hoppenot said. “Adding the ARIAD team’s experience, talent, resources and relationships to our existing European organization accelerates our planned global expansion and leaves us well-positioned to maximize the potential future European launches from our rich development portfolio.”

Iclusig is the only approved BCR-ABL inhibitor that targets the abnormal tyrosine kinase but also the mutations associated with resistance, including the T3151 mutation. In the U.S, Iclusig is used to treat patients with chronic myeloid leukemia in its chronic, accelerated or blast phase, with or without the T3151 mutation. It is also indicated for patients with Philadelphia-chromosome positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Iclusig was designed to inhibit the BCR-ABL protein's activity.