Chinook Therapeutics to be Acquired by Novartis AG for $3.2 Billion

Chinook Therapeutics (Nasdaq: KDNY) has entered into an agreement to be acquired by Novartis AG for $40 per share in cash, or a total of $3.2 billion. Chinook’s diversified pipeline of potentially best-in-class programs for rare, severe chronic kidney diseases will enable Novartis to significantly expand its renal portfolio.

The company’s shares rose nearly 60% following the news. 

Highlights

Under the terms of the agreements, Novartis will acquire Chinook for $40 per share in cash, with potential to receive up to an additional $4 per share in cash through contingent value rights, for a total equity value of up to approximately $3.5 billion.

The transaction has been unanimously approved by the Boards of Directors of both companies and is expected to be completed in the second half of 2023. Chinook will continue to operate as a separate and independent company until the transaction has closed. 

About Chinook Therapeutics

Chinook Therapeutics, Inc. is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing precision medicines for kidney diseases. Chinook’s product candidates are being investigated in rare, severe chronic kidney disorders with opportunities for well-defined clinical pathways. Chinook’s lead program is atrasentan, a phase 3 endothelin receptor antagonist for the treatment of IgA nephropathy and proteinuric glomerular diseases. Zigakibart (BION-1301), an anti-APRIL monoclonal antibody, is being evaluated in a phase 1/2 trial for IgA nephropathy. CHK-336, an oral small molecule LDHA inhibitor for the treatment of hyperoxalurias, is in phase 1 development. In addition, Chinook’s research and discovery efforts are focused on building a pipeline of precision medicines for rare, severe chronic kidney diseases with defined genetic and molecular drivers. Chinook is leveraging insights from kidney single cell RNA sequencing and large CKD patient cohorts that have been comprehensively panomically phenotyped, with retained biosamples and prospective clinical follow-up, to discover and develop therapeutic candidates with mechanisms of action targeted against key kidney disease pathways.