CAMBRIDGE, MA — Biogen announced that it has completed its acquisition of Nightstar Therapeutics, a clinical-stage gene therapy company focused on treatments for inherited retinal disorders.
As a result of the acquisition, Biogen now has added two mid- to late-stage clinical assets, as well as preclinical programs, in ophthalmology, according to a press release.
The transaction value was about $800 million. Nightstar’s common stock will no longer be listed for trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market.
Nightstar is developing adeno-associated virus treatment. Its lead asset is NSR-REP1 for the treatment of choroideremia, a rare degenerative, X-linked inherited retinal disorder that leads to blindness and has no approved treatments. Initially, patients with choroideremia experience poor night vision, and over time progressive visual loss leads to complete blindness.
NSR-RPGR is Nightstar’s second clinical program for the treatment of X-linked retinitis pigmentosa, which is also a rare inherited retinal disease primarily affecting males with no approved treatments. The disease leads to loss of photoreceptor cells, resulting in retinal dysfunction by adolescence and early adulthood, progressing to legal blindness when patients reach their 40s.
“Today marks a significant achievement for Biogen,” said Michel Vounatsos, Biogen’s CEO. “The acquisition of Nightstar further bolsters our pipeline and is an important step forward toward our goal of a multi-franchise portfolio across complementary modalities. We look forward to working now as one Biogen team with the goal of bringing breakthrough therapies to patients to slow or halt blindness across a range of inherited retinal diseases.”