Orchard Therapeutics Acquired by Kyowa Kirin as Part of 2023 Vision to ‘Make People Smile’

Global gene therapy leader, Orchard Therapeutics (Nasdaq: ORTX), will be acquired by Kyowa Kirin in a deal valued at almost $390M. Kyowa Kirin (TSE: 4151) is a Japan-based global specialty pharmaceutical company creating innovative medical solutions utilizing the latest biotechnology. Orchard’s share price surged by more than 97% following the news.

Bobby Gaspar, co-founder and chief executive officer of Orchard Therapeutics, said, “This is an exciting opportunity designed to accelerate the realization of our shared vision of ending the devastation caused by severe genetic diseases and deliver life-changing value in medical care.”

The transaction has been unanimously approved by both company’s Board of Directors and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2024.

Highlights

Under terms of the agreement, Kyowa will acquire Orchard for $16.00 per American Depositary Share (ADS) in cash (approximately $387.4 million, or ¥57.3 billion).

Takeyoshi Yamashita, Ph.D., Director of the Board, chief medical officer, senior managing executive officer of Kyowa Kirin, said, “Our hope is to combine the strengths of Kyowa Kirin and Orchard Therapeutics with mutual respect to realize the successful creation and delivery of life-changing value for patients living with rare and life-threatening inherited diseases.”

Orchard said that joining Kyowa Kirin’s global network ensures it will be well-resourced to progress its anticipated commercialization of OTL-200 in the U.S., if approved, continue investing in initiatives aimed at accelerating Libmeldy growth in Europe, capitalize on opportunities for global expansion, and advance its next-in-line neurometabolic programs in MPS disorders and earlier-stage research programs.

Kyowa Kirin has established a 2030 Vision to consistently create and deliver medicines with life-changing value that ultimately makes people smile.

About Orchard Therapeutics

At Orchard Therapeutics, our vision is to end the devastation caused by genetic and other severe diseases. We aim to do this by discovering, developing and commercializing new treatments that tap into the curative potential of hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) gene therapy. In this approach, a patient’s own blood stem cells are genetically modified outside of the body and then reinserted, with the goal of correcting the underlying cause of disease in a single treatment.

In 2018, the company acquired GSK’s rare disease gene therapy portfolio, which originated from a pioneering collaboration between GSK and the San Raffaele Telethon Institute for Gene Therapy in Milan, Italy. Today, Orchard is advancing a pipeline spanning pre-clinical, clinical and commercial stage HSC gene therapies designed to address serious diseases where the burden is immense for patients, families and society and current treatment options are limited or do not exist.

Orchard has its global headquarters in London and U.S. headquarters in Boston. For more information, please visit www.orchard-tx.com, and follow us on X (Twitter) and LinkedIn.