It's not exactly Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) taking out Wyeth, or Mylan (Nasdaq: MYL) swallowing Merck KGaA's generic business, but Rule Breakers pick BioMarin Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: BMRN) still made a solid pickup on Monday.
The acquisition of Huxley cost only $15 million up front, but BioMarin is only a $1.7 billion company. That's on about the same scale as Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) making a roughly $1 billion acquisition of Cougar Biotechnology.
Huxley's only product, 3,4-diaminopyridine (3,4-DAP), is a treatment for a rare autoimmune disease called Lambert Eaton Myasthenic Syndrome (LEMS). It recently received a positive opinion from the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use in Europe, so an approval is expected in the next few months.
BioMarin structured the deal so that it owes an additional $7.5 million when that approval comes, and about another $36 million in payments if sales and U.S. development milestones are met.
Sales are only expected to be $10 million to $15 million in 2010, which would result in diluting earnings next year. Eventually, BioMarin expects peak sales of $100 million per year in Europe. If it can hit that target, the small acquisition would look like a good deal. And it would look even better if U.S. approval only adds to that.
3,4-DAP works by improving muscle strength in LEMS patients, so there's potential to expand the drug beyond LEMS into other diseases like the neuromuscular symptoms of multiple sclerosis. Acorda Therapeutics (Nasdaq: ACOR) has a related drug, Amaya, that's under review with the Food and Drug Administration for the ability to increase walking in patients with MS.
But we're getting ahead of ourselves. For now, investors should be happy that management made a nice acquisition that hasn't depleted its cash too much. And best of all, it looks to have a much higher chance of bringing in revenue than BioMarin's partnership with La Jolla Pharmaceutical earlier this year.
Good management and smart backing is one of the signs of a rule-breaking company, according to David Gardner.
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