AstraZeneca has made an offer of about $10 billion for Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, the US company behind the peptide drug setmelanotide, according to news reports on 4 November. The Wall Street Journal first reported the approach, citing people familiar with the matter. Neither company has confirmed it.
What was reported
The Wall Street Journal said AstraZeneca offered $124 per share last month. A second report, citing three people familiar with the matter, described a nonbinding proposal of as much as $134 per share once payments tied to milestones are included. Coverage differs on how milestone payments figure in the headline price.
The deal would reportedly go through Alexion, AstraZeneca's rare disease division. Analysts quoted by Fierce Pharma suggested a bidding war could develop and that Rhythm may not settle for the current proposal. That remains speculation. Rhythm's shares closed 28 percent higher at $110.68 on the day, giving it a market value of about $7.64 billion, according to LSEG data cited in coverage.
The peptide at the centre
Rhythm's product Imcivree, whose active ingredient is setmelanotide, is a small cyclic peptide of eight amino acids that activates the melanocortin-4 receptor, a brain receptor involved in appetite and energy balance. It was first approved in the US in 2020 for obesity caused by rare genetic deficiencies, and in March the FDA approved a third indication, acquired hypothalamic obesity, which follows damage to the brain region that helps regulate hunger.
The company's focus is rare forms of obesity rather than the broader weight loss market served by GLP-1 drugs. William Blair has forecast that Imcivree could reach $3.6 billion in sales by 2032, an analyst estimate and not a company figure.
What is still unknown
It is not known whether Rhythm has responded to the approach, whether talks are continuing, or whether another company is interested. No agreement has been announced, and the terms above come from unnamed sources.
OrientSciences found no newer reporting beyond the first week of November.