While a bidding war for Soleno may be just a rumour, there are certainly some interesting parallels between Soleno and Reata Pharmaceuticals, which was acquired by Biogen for US$7.2 bn in July 2023.
There was a bidding war between a European pharma and a US pharma (Biogen) to acquire Reata.
There is rumoured to be a bidding war between a Swiss and a US pharma for ownership of Soleno.
Reata’s rare disease therapy, Skyclarys for the treatment of Friedreich’s ataxia, had been approved by the FDA five months prior to Reata’s acquisition and had been available for sale for just one month.
Soleno’s rare disease therapy, Vykat for hyperphagia in Prader Willi syndrome, was approved by the FDA three months ago and has been available for sale for two months.
Reata had already submitted an application for EMA approval at the time of acquisition.
Soleno has already submitted an application for EMA approval.
Reata reported strong early interest in Skyclarys. 500+ patient start forms were submitted in the first 2 months after approval.
Soleno has reported strong early interest in Vykat with 268 patient start forms submitted in the first 30 days.
Reata set a list price of US$370,000 for Skyclarys.
Soleno has priced Vykat at US$466,000 for the average-weight patient.
Reata had no further Phase 2 or 3 assets in its pipeline.
Soleno has no further clinical assets in its pipeline.
Immediately prior to the announcement of Biogen’s bid for Reata, the listed US biotech had a market cap of ~US$4.25 bn.
Soleno’s current market cap is ~US$4. 25 bn.
The main difference between the two companies is in the addressable market for their drugs. Prader Wili syndrome has a higher incidence than Friedreich’s ataxia.
Reata estimated an addressable US market of ~ 4,500 whereas Soleno estimates an addressable US market of ~10,000.
Consequently, it will be very interesting to see what the outcome is if this rumour comes to fruition.
While on the subject of Skyclarys, this article on the highly unconventional (but successful) approach used by Biogen to heighten awareness of Friedreich's ataxia may be of interest.
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