Bavarian Nordic Buys Emergent Biosolutions’ Travel-Health Business for Up to $380 Mln

By Dominic Chopping
Bavarian Nordic A/S said Wednesday that it has agreed to buy Emergent Biosolutions Inc.’s travel-health business for up to $380 million, adding two travel vaccines, a late-stage vaccine candidate as well as research and development, manufacturing, and commercial capabilities to its portfolio.
The Danish vaccine maker said the deal will see it acquire Vivotif for the prevention of typhoid fever, Vaxchora against cholera, and a phase 3 vaccine candidate for the prevention of chikungunya virus.
The agreement also includes a manufacturing facility in Switzerland, a research and development facility in the U.S., and EU and U.S.-based commercial operations.
“This acquisition adds not only to our commercial portfolio and reinforces our leading position in travel vaccines, but it also strengthens our pipeline with a promising late-stage vaccine candidate against Chikungunya, an emerging infectious disease that represents a significant unmet medical need worldwide,” Bavarian Nordic Chief Executive Paul Chaplin said.
“Travel vaccines are seeing a rebound after the Covid-19 pandemic and the expanded portfolio allows us to further explore synergies in our commercial presence across key markets. Likewise, the addition of further manufacturing capabilities provides us with greater flexibility and scale in production, as we continue our preparations for the launch of several new products over the next few years,” he added.
The company will pay $270 million upfront, financed through existing cash and proceeds from a private placement, and up to $110 million in future conditional milestone payments related to the development of the chikungunya vaccine and sales of the marketed vaccines.
Bavarian Nordic said the acquired business is expected to add around 200 million Danish kroner ($28.8 million) to revenue this year while investments in the chikungunya program and integration costs will hit earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization by DKK400 million.
The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2023, subject to regulatory approval.
Write to Dominic Chopping at dominic.chopping@wsj.com