Jazz Pharmaceuticals Buying Cavion For $312.5 Million: Details About The Deal

By Annie Baker ● Aug 19, 2019
  • Jazz Pharmaceuticals recently announced it is acquiring Cavion for $312.5 million. These are the details about the deal.

Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc recently announced it is acquiring Cavion through a merger with one of its subsidiaries. As part of the agreement, the former Cavion shareholders will receive an upfront payment of $52.5 million and have the potential to receive additional payments of up to $260 million upon the achievement of certain clinical, regulatory, and commercial milestones for a total potential consideration of $312.5 million. 

“We are excited to continue the development of Cavion’s lead asset, CX-8998, a first-in-class small molecule, for the potential treatment of essential tremor, a prevalent and disabling movement disorder,” said Robert Iannone, M.D., M.S.C.E. — who is EVP of research and development of Jazz Pharmaceuticals. “The acquisition of Cavion demonstrates our commitment to further diversify our pipeline and product portfolio with the addition of CX-8998, which has the potential to provide a meaningful treatment option to patients.”

What does Cavion do? Cavion is a clinical-stage biotechnology company that creates therapies aimed at modulating the T-type calcium channel for the treatment of chronic and rare neurological diseases. And Cavion’s lead molecule CX-8998 has been evaluated in a Phase 2 randomized and placebo-controlled clinical study in patients with essential tremor. The study demonstrated proof-of-concept and supporting the continued development of CX-8998 as a potential treatment for essential tremor.

“Jazz shares Cavion’s passion to develop differentiated therapies for patients,” added Andrew Krouse, the president and CEO of Cavion. “We believe that Jazz Pharmaceuticals’ development and commercial expertise will help realize the value of CX-8998 as a treatment for patients with essential tremor.”

Jazz Pharmaceuticals’ legal advisor for the transaction was Hogan Lovells. And Cavion’s financial advisor for the transaction was MTS Health Partners, L.P., its legal advisor was Cooley LLP, and its strategic advisor was Pilot Health Advisors, LLC.