Science2 publishersIndependently confirmed2 min readPublished
Shionogi agrees to buy IntraBio for $2 billion to own Aqneursa, the only FDA-approved A-T ataxia drug
Shionogi agreed to pay $2 billion for IntraBio, maker of Aqneursa, the first FDA-approved drug for ataxia in A-T. The April Radicava deal came with a sales forecast. This one comes with no disclosed sales figure to test the price against.
The Scientist · Science desk
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What happened
- Aqneursa, the brand name for levacetylleucine, won FDA approval in September 2024 for neurological manifestations of Niemann-Pick disease type C, then EU approval in January.
- The European Medicines Agency is now reviewing Aqneursa for adults and children with A-T, after the FDA's September 18 label expansion.
- Two months before the deal, Shionogi chief executive Isao Teshirogi told Bloomberg News the company was actively pursuing at least three acquisition opportunities.
- Shionogi shares fell about 4.5% in Tokyo on Monday, to 2,661 yen, then gained 3.8% on Tuesday to reach 2,763 yen.
- Canaccord Genuity analyst Sumant Kulkarni wrote that companies with approved products for rare indications hold "significant scarcity value" for strategic buyers and investors.
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Why it matters
- constraint Shareholders can check the Radicava price at roughly 3.6 times expected sales, but they cannot run the same check on the $2 billion until Shionogi discloses what Aqneursa earns.
- exposure Kulkarni ties the sale's timing to the A-T approval, so the pending EMA decision on A-T bears directly on how much of what Shionogi bought applies in Europe.
- precedent If approved rare-disease assets carry the scarcity premium Kulkarni describes, other independent holders of such approvals become candidates for Shionogi's remaining acquisition search.
The closest comparison for the IntraBio price is the deal Shionogi signed in April. It agreed to pay Tanabe Pharma $2.5 billion, plus a potential royalty, for the ALS drug Radicava [10]. Shionogi said that drug would add about $700 million in annual global sales in the fiscal year that began April 1 [11]. That is roughly 3.6 times a year of sales [17]. Kulkarni, the Canaccord Genuity analyst, wrote that he was "encouraged by the upfront consideration" for IntraBio [14]. The report does not split the $2 billion into upfront and contingent payments, and it does not include Aqneursa's sales, so the same multiple cannot be computed.
The 59% figure attached to Radicava compares two different measures. GEN reported that the $700 million would be a 59% leap from Shionogi's entire fiscal 2025 EBITDA of $1.187 billion [12]. That divides one drug's revenue by the whole company's earnings. Radicava adds to EBITDA only what is left after the cost of making and selling it, so its real addition to earnings is smaller than 59%. The forecast also assumes growth. Radicava brought in $597.6 million in fiscal 2025 [13], and $700 million would be about 17% more [19].
Aqneursa's value to Shionogi depends on its label. One molecule, levacetylleucine, now holds US approvals for two rare neurological diseases, and both are limited to patients weighing at least 15 kg [2][3]. An approval means a regulator judged the benefit worth the risk in the people who were studied. It does not tell you how large the benefit was, or how many patients will be prescribed the drug. Kulkarni linked the deal's timing to the newest indication. "In fact, we were surprised that IntraBio had remained independent for the time it did, but the timing makes sense given the recent approval for A-T, which adds another leg to its story," he wrote [8].
Teshirogi presented the purchase as strategy. "The planned acquisition of IntraBio actively demonstrates Shionogi's solid commitment to building a leading global rare disease business," he said in a statement [5]. He had already told Bloomberg News that money was not what limited him. "From a cash flow perspective, we've become a company with plenty of financial firepower," he said [15]. Counting Radicava, Shionogi has committed $4.5 billion since April to two marketed drugs for rare neurological diseases [16]. The share price fell on Monday and rebounded on Tuesday, ending 23 yen, about 0.8%, below where it started on Monday [18].
What to watch
- The EMA decision on Aqneursa for A-T; approval would give the drug the same two indications in Europe that it holds in the US.
- Any Shionogi disclosure of Aqneursa revenue, or of how the $2 billion splits between upfront and contingent payments.
- Whether another of the three or more acquisition opportunities Teshirogi described becomes a signed deal.