A roundup of mergers & acquisitions from Halyzome Therapeutics/Antares Pharma and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals/ Checkmate Pharmaceuticals.

Halozyme To Acquire Antares Pharma for $960 M
Halozyme Therapeutics, a San Diego, California-based biopharmaceutical company, has agreed to acquire Antares Pharma, an Ewing, New Jersey-based specialty pharmaceutical company, for approximately $960 million to create a drug-delivery and specialty product company.

The Antares business consists of a royalty revenue-generating auto injector platform business and a commercial business with three proprietary commercial products.

Under the merger agreement, Halozyme will commence a cash tender offer to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Antares for $5.60 per share in cash. The transaction is not subject to a financing condition. Halozyme intends to finance the transaction using existing cash on hand and new sources of debt. Following the successful completion of the tender offer, Halozyme will acquire all remaining shares not tendered in the tender offer through a second-step merger at the same price. This transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2022.

Source: Halozyme Therapeutics and Antares Pharma

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Regeneron To Acquire Checkmate Pharmaceuticals for $250 M
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, a Tarrytown, New York-based bio/pharmaceutical company, has agreed to acquire Checkmate Pharmaceuticals, a Cambridge Massachusetts-based clinical-stage bio/pharmaceutical company, for a total equity value of approximately $250 million.

Checkmate’s lead investigational candidate is vidutolimod, which is currently being studied in combination with other agents for melanoma, non-melanoma skin cancers, and head and neck cancer. Vidutolimod is administered into tumors and is believed to induce and expand anti-tumor T cells and induce tumor regression as a monotherapy in patients whose tumors previously progressed on PD-1 checkpoint inhibition.

Regeneron will initiate, through a subsidiary, a tender offer to acquire all outstanding shares of Checkmate at an all-cash price of $10.50 per share of Checkmate common stock. The closing of the tender offer will be subject to certain conditions, including the tender of at least a majority of the outstanding shares of Checkmate common stock, the expiration of the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act, and other customary closing conditions. Upon the successful completion of the tender offer, Regeneron will acquire all shares not acquired in the tender through a second-step merger. The transaction is expected to close in mid-2022.

Source: Regeneron and Checkmate Pharmaceuticals