Bristol Myers Squibb wraps up $13.1bn acquisition of MyoKardia

Bristol Myers Squibb has wrapped up its previously announced $13.1 billion acquisition of MyoKardia, a California-based clinical-stage biopharma company.

Following the closing of the deal, the shares of MyoKardia have ceased trading on the NASDAQ Global Select Market and the company is now a fully-owned subsidiary of Bristol Myers Squibb.

As per the terms of the deal signed in October 2020, the US pharma giant offered to acquire MyoKardia for $225 per share.

Giovanni Caforio – Bristol Myers Squibb Board Chair and CEO said: “We are excited to welcome MyoKardia colleagues to Bristol Myers Squibb. The MyoKardia team has revolutionized cardiovascular treatments to address significant unmet medical needs, and we look forward to helping more patients together.

“With MyoKardia, we are bolstering our leading cardiovascular franchise and adding exceptional scientific capabilities, a potentially transformative new medicine with significant commercial potential and a promising pipeline of candidates. Cardiovascular remains an important therapeutic area for Bristol Myers Squibb with a strong legacy and a promising future.”

Bristol Myers Squibb wraps up $13.1bn acquisition of MyoKardia. Photo courtesy of Bristol-Myers Squibb Company.

The acquisition of MyoKardia gives Bristol Myers Squibb access to mavacamten, a cardiovascular drug candidate for the treatment of obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM).

Bristol Myers Squibb expects to submit a new drug application (NDA) to the US Food and Drug Administration in the first quarter of 2021 for mavacamten for the treatment of symptomatic obstructive HCM, based on the findings of the EXPLORER-HCM study.

The US pharma giant said that it will look to explore the full potential of mavacamten in other indications such as non-obstructive HCM. Furthermore, it will develop MyoKardia’s pipeline of novel compounds which include a couple of clinical-stage therapeutics in the form of danicamtiv (formerly MYK-491) and MYK-224, along with two pre-clinical assets – ACT-1 and LUS-1.