Forest Labs to acquire Furiex Pharma for $1.1 billion and with it access to eluxadoline

Forest Laboratories, Inc., and Furiex Pharmaceuticals, Inc., announced that Forest has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Furiex for $95 per share, or approximately $1.1 billion in cash, and up to $30 per share (approximately $360 million in aggregate) in a Contingent Value Right (CVR) that may be payable based on the status of eluxadoline, Furiex�s lead product, as a controlled drug following approval. The acquisition is subject to receipt of customary regulatory approvals and approval by Furiex shareholders. Forest concurrently announced that it has entered into an agreement with Royalty Pharma to sell Furiex�s royalties on alogliptin and Priligy to Royalty Pharma for approximately $415 million upon successful completion of Forest�s acquisition of Furiex. Forest�s acquisition of Furiex is not contingent on Forest�s agreement with Royalty Pharma. Eluxadoline is a first-in-class, locally-acting mu opioid receptor agonist and a delta opioid receptor antagonist for treating symptoms of diarrhoea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome (IBS-d). In February, Furiex announced top-line results indicating the company's two pivotal Phase III clinical trials evaluating the efficacy and safety of eluxadoline in the treatment of IBS-d met both the FDA and the European Medicines Agency formally agreed-upon primary endpoints of composite response based on simultaneous improvements in stool consistency and abdominal pain. Furiex is on track to submit a New Drug Application for eluxadoline by the end of the third quarter of 2014.