By Sabrina Valle, Milana Vinn and Amy-Jo Crowley
Nov 4 (Reuters) - AstraZeneca made an offer of about $10 billion to acquire obesity drugmaker Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, according to three people familiar with the matter.
AstraZeneca offered as much as $134 a share in the non-binding proposal, including payments for milestone achievements, the people said.
The Wall Street Journal reported earlier on Wednesday that AstraZeneca had made a $124-per-share offer for the company last month.
Shares of Rhythm closed
up 28% at $110.68 on the news, giving it a market capitalization of about $7.64 billion.
The acquisition would be pursued through AstraZeneca's rare-disease business Alexion, which the company acquired for $39 billion in 2021 to expand beyond its core oncology and biopharmaceutical franchises, two of the people said.
An AstraZeneca spokesperson declined to comment.
Representatives for Rhythm did not respond to a request for comment.
AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot is seeking to shift investors' focus back to growth after a turbulent few months. The company, which has a $292 billion market value, faced some clinical trial setbacks, and reports of a potentially transformative deal with US rival Bristol Myers Squibb had weighed on the shares.
Rhythm develops therapies for rare neuroendocrine disorders, while Alexion specializes in treatments for rare diseases and has become the centerpiece of AstraZeneca's efforts to expand in high-growth specialty medicines.
AstraZeneca had previously expressed interest in Rhythm, which develops treatments for rare metabolic disorders and severe obesity, and renewed its pursuit in recent months, the Wall Street Journal reported.
In March, the US Food and Drug Administration expanded the use of Rhythm's therapy, Imcivree, for a rare form of obesity caused by brain damage, making it the first treatment to be approved in the country for the condition.
The company is also developing treatments for additional rare neuroendocrine and metabolic diseases.
The obesity drug market has become one of the pharmaceutical industry's most coveted sectors, driven by strong demand for treatments from Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly and expectations that sales could exceed $100 billion annually over the next decade.
While Rhythm's therapies target rare genetic forms of obesity rather than the broader weight-loss market, an acquisition would give AstraZeneca an established commercial presence in the fast-growing field while expanding its rare-disease portfolio.
(Reporting by Sabrina Valle and Milana Vinn in New York, Amy-Jo Crowley in London and Siddhi Mahatole in Bengaluru; Editing by Leroy Leo and Jamie Freed)
