April 6 (Reuters) - Neurocrine Biosciences will acquire rare-disease drugmaker Soleno Therapeutics for $2.9 billion in cash, the companies said on Monday, marking the neuroscience-focused drugmaker's expansion into metabolic disorders.
The deal gives Neurocrine access to Vykat XR, the first drug approved in the U.S. to treat hyperphagia associated with Prader-Willi syndrome, a rare genetic disorder, bolstering its portfolio of rare-disease treatments.
Neurocrine has offered $53 per Soleno share held,
which represents a premium of about 34% to the stock's last close.
Soleno shares surged more than 33% in premarket trading.
The deal would offer a "more sensible way into metabolic disease" than Neurocrine's own obesity candidates still in preclinical testing, given competitive and regulatory hurdles, BMO Capital Markets analyst Evan Seigerman said in a note after the Financial Times report on a potential deal on Sunday.
Vykat XR is expected to bring in $450 million in sales this year and more than $2 billion globally by the mid-2030s, Seigerman said, citing Visible Alpha estimates.
The treatment generated about $190 million in sales in 2025, within roughly nine months after receiving approval in March.
The deal, which is expected to close in the next 90 days, will be funded with cash on hand, Neurocrine said, adding that it plans to take a modest amount of prepayable debt.
Hyperphagia, or feelings of intense and persistent hunger, is the hallmark symptom of Prader-Willi syndrome, which could lead to severe obesity as well as physical, mental and behavioral problems.
The syndrome affects about one in every 20,000 to 30,000 births, with an estimated 20,000 individuals affected in the U.S., according to government data.
(Reporting by Mariam Sunny and Gnaneshwar Rajan in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore and Sriraj Kalluvila)
