Shire Buys Dyax for up to $6.5 Billion

Shire (Dublin, Ireland) and Dyax Corp. (Burlington, MA) today announced that Shire will acquire Dyax for $37.30 in cash per Dyax share, for aggregate upfront consideration of approximately $5.9 billion. The acquisition furthers Shire’s strategy to become a leading global biotech.   Dyax is a biotechnology company primarily focused on the development of plasma kallikrein (pKal) inhibitors for the treatment of HAE, a debilitating and sometimes life-threatening rare genetic disease. Its most advanced clinical program is DX-2930, which has received fast track, breakthrough therapy, and orphan drug designations from FDA and has also received orphan drug status in the EU. It is expected to enter Phase 3 clinical trials by year-end 2015. If approved for the prevention of Type 1 and Type 2 HAE, DX-2930 could reportedly generate estimated annual global sales of up to $2.0 billion.