Investments · Pharmaceuticals

Sumitomo Dainippon pays $3 billion for Roivant stake and five drug subsidiaries

Investor: Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma (Osaka)
In: Roivant Sciences and five subsidiaries, Basel, Switzerland (main operations in the US)
Value: $3B upfront (over 10% of Roivant plus stakes in its subsidiaries)
Status: Memorandum of understanding announced on September 6, 2019; definitive agreement in October 2019; completed in December 2019.
Date: 2019-09-06

Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma agreed to pay $3 billion upfront to Roivant Sciences for a stake of more than 10% in Roivant and its holdings in five subsidiaries, including Myovant, Urovant, Enzyvant and Altavant. Roivant is headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, but its main operations are in the US, with offices in New York. The deal was first announced on September 6, 2019 as a memorandum of understanding.

Why it matters

Sumitomo Dainippon needed new products before the US patent on its main drug, the schizophrenia treatment Latuda, expires. The deal gave it a set of late-stage drug candidates in one step.

What Sumitomo receives

Sumitomo Dainippon was to take about 45% of Myovant and about 75% of Urovant, both listed in the US, along with Roivant's stakes in the privately held Enzyvant and Altavant. It also gained options to buy up to six more Roivant subsidiaries and access to Roivant's technology platforms. Roivant's model is to take over drug candidates that other companies dropped for commercial rather than scientific reasons.

Timing

The deal came months after Sumitomo Dainippon's cancer drug candidate napabucasin failed in a trial earlier in 2019. The final agreement was signed in October, and the deal was completed in December 2019.

Sources

Kakehashi M&A News home