Japanese pharmaceutical company acquires local drug developer for $500M

Mark Gurney, chair and CEO of Tetra Therapeutics Courtesy Tetra Therapeutics

A Grand Rapids-based drug company signed an agreement to be acquired by a Japanese pharmaceutical company, including the rights to a drug in development for treating Alzheimer’s disease.

Tetra Therapeutics said it signed a definitive agreement for Osaka, Japan-based Shionogi & Co. Ltd. to acquire Tetra.

Under the terms of the merger agreement, Tetra will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Shionogi, and Shionogi will have global rights to BPN14770 and Tetra’s entire portfolio of compounds.

Based on the achievement of certain predetermined regulatory and commercial milestones, the total transaction value is estimated at nearly $500 million.

The two companies entered into a collaboration and investment agreement in 2018 and, earlier this year, announced an expanded alliance to develop and commercialize BPN14770 for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Fragile X syndrome (FXS) and other indications.

Currently, Tetra is conducting a phase two study in FXS and recently completed a phase two study in AD in the U.S.

“Shionogi has been a valued partner for the last 2½ years, and with the company’s development and commercialization expertise, we believe Shionogi is ideally positioned to bring the potential of our platform to patients and provide new treatment options within these areas of urgent medical need. This is a great outcome for our investors and stakeholders,” said Mark Gurney, chair and CEO of Tetra Therapeutics.

Dr. Isao Teshirogi, president and CEO of Shionogi, said his company is “excited to combine Tetra’s portfolio with our drug development capabilities to further advance BPN14770 in CNS disorders, including AD and FXS.”

“Tetra’s deep level of drug discovery know-how in the CNS area will help us to solve for the cognitive disorders our aging population is facing, and we believe we are well-positioned to bring BPN14770 to patients in need,” Teshirogi said.

Tetra Therapeutics

Founded in 2013 with over $1 million in initial seed funding led by Grand Angels, Tetra Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing a portfolio of therapeutic products that are designed to bring “clarity of thought” to people suffering from FXS, AD, traumatic brain injury and other brain disorders.

Tetra uses structure-guided drug design to discover mechanistically novel, allosteric inhibitors of phosphodiesterase 4 (PDE4), an enzyme family that plays key roles in memory formation, learning, neuroinflammation and traumatic brain injury.

The company is located at 2220 Wealthy St. SE in Grand Rapids.

Shionogi & Co.

Founded in 1878, Shionogi & Co. is a research-driven pharmaceutical company with research and development targeting two therapeutic areas: infectious diseases and pain/CNS disorders.

For over 50 years, Shionogi has developed and commercialized oral and parenteral anti-infectives.

In addition, Shionogi is engaged in new research areas, such as obesity/geriatric metabolic diseases and oncology/immunology.