{"id":375833,"date":"2026-04-01T04:27:16","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T04:27:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/375833\/"},"modified":"2026-04-01T04:27:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T04:27:16","slug":"biogen-secures-running-start-in-kidney-disease-with-5-6b-apellis-buy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/375833\/","title":{"rendered":"Biogen Secures \u2018Running Start\u2019 in Kidney Disease With $5.6B Apellis Buy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Biogen isn\u2019t just buying Apellis Pharmaceuticals and two approved medicines in kidney and eye disease for $5.6 billion; it\u2019s also gaining the know-how of a biotech that has already served the nephrology space.<\/p>\n

Analysts heralded the deal as an effort in diversification and stocking up on a team that can lay a path for the successful launch of Biogen\u2019s felzartamab, a CD38 targeting antibody for kidney disease acquired in the $1.8 billion takeover<\/a> of Human Immunology Biosciences (HI-Bio) in 2024. But others worried about the premium paid and competitive dynamics in Apellis\u2019 existing markets.<\/p>\n

Felzartamab is currently in multiple Phase 3 trials across three kidney diseases with readouts beginning in 2027. The company hopes to eventually seek approval of felzartamab for immunoglobulin A nephropathy (IgAN), primary membranous nephropathy (PMN) and antibody-mediated rejection (AMR).<\/p>\n

Apellis\u2019 Empaveli is approved<\/a> for three other kidney diseases, providing Biogen with a revenue-generating asset and access to prescribers in the kidney space ahead of the investigational product\u2019s launch.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just think that if the clinical trials work out for felzartamab as we hope, that we will have a running start into the launch, and we could actually potentially achieve peak sales faster than we would if we were just doing on this on our own,\u201d CEO Chris Viehbacher said on a Tuesday morning conference call.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Business<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

\n With Biogen\u2019s multiple sclerosis portfolio facing more generic pressure than ever, the company is eyeing a busy late-stage pipeline and hunting for deals to build its return to growth.\n <\/p>\n

February 6, 2026<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00b7\u00a0<\/p>\n

2 min read<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00b7\u00a0<\/p>\n

Stifel agreed, noting that the salesforce and commercial infrastructure from Apellis \u201cshould help them hit the ground running\u201d with felzartamab.<\/p>\n

Viehbacher said that Apellis fits perfectly into Biogen\u2019s strategy. Executives at the company\u2014which has conducted just three buyouts since 2020\u2014have been peppered with questions about M&A over the past few quarters, given that the pipeline is still in its early stages. The CEO said that they didn\u2019t want to take on a lot of Phase 3 risk; rather, they wanted to differentiate beyond neuroscience and the price had to be right without stretching the balance sheet. That final piece has been tough to achieve in a cutthroat pharma deal environment<\/a>.<\/p>\n

RBC Capital Markets agreed that Apellis offers no real clinical risk with its commercial assets, but both programs come with baggage and established rivals. \u201c[W]e can see some aspects that may mute enthusiasm,\u201d the firm wrote.<\/p>\n

Viehbacher said that Biogen began looking at Apellis a year ago while conducting thorough market research in the kidney space. Novartis has an early-stage asset that will rival Biogen\u2019s burgeoning kidney franchise, Viehbacher noted, but he brushed off competitive concerns.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe feel comfortable that we\u2019re going to be able to work with the Apellis teams to really pull the teams together and do even more with these two products than either company could do on their end.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the diseases are different between felzartamab and Empaveli, there is significant overlap in terms of expertise and the prescriber base, explained Alisha Alaimo, president and head of North America at Biogen.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"White<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

\n William Blair hailed a positive readout in cutaneous lupus erythematosus as a turning point for Biogen, while RBC Capital analysts called the results \u201canother derisking step\u201d for the company\u2019s immunology and inflammation pipeline.\n <\/p>\n

March 30, 2026<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00b7\u00a0<\/p>\n

4 min read<\/p>\n

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\u201cHiring in nephrology is actually not so easy. It\u2019s a competitive space,\u201d Alaimo explained. Instead of seeking these individuals out for the future launch of felzartamab, Biogen felt that Apellis could provide the team they need. Viehbacher said that the commercial team at Apellis is about 350 strong.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are looking to try to retain as much talent as possible in that organization,\u201d the CEO said.<\/p>\n

\n Power Through 2028<\/p>\n

Empaveli is not the only drug that Biogen will get. Syfovre is approved for the immune-mediated eye disease geographic atrophy secondary to age related macular degeneration, a competitive area with rivals including Regeneron and Annexon.<\/p>\n

Empaveli and Syfovre combined for $689 million in revenue for 2025, according to Biogen\u2019s Tuesday release. The drugs are expected to grow through at least 2028, a key date for Biogen when its existing pipeline is expected to start providing revenue.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith both Empaveli\/Syfovre expected to grow revenues in the coming years, successful acquisition of Apellis could start to meaningfully change how investors think about the revenue growth story for the company,\u201d BMO Capital Markets analysts wrote on Tuesday morning.<\/p>\n

Biogen has been managing the decline of its multiple sclerosis franchise for several years, with Viehbacher\u2014who joined in 2022\u2014overseeing a major diversification effort.<\/p>\n

Biogen will pay $41 per share for Apellis, plus a contingent value right to stockholders providing two payments of $2 per share held payable upon certain global net sales benchmarks for Syfovre. Because there are no indication overlaps, BMO does not see any potential for regulatory problems from the Federal Trade Commission even though both companies hold kidney disease assets.<\/p>\n

Stifel, while agreeing that Apellis appears to be a strategic fit, questioned the value. Apellis is expected to achieve revenue of about $1.5 billion in 2030.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Isolated<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

\n Analysts, investors and scientists are eager for Biogen\u2019s 2026 BIIB080 readout. Even if successful, executives warn that there are many more steps before the Alzheimer\u2019s therapy could reach the market.\n <\/p>\n

February 9, 2026<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00b7\u00a0<\/p>\n

4 min read<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00b7\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAPLS revenue consensus for 2030 is $1.5B\u2014if achieved BIIB would\u2019ve paid ~3.5x this number (not crazy at all)\u2014but that arguably may be ambitious as it signals a durable uptick in the growth rate for Syfovre, and >$600MM in sales for Empaveli,\u201d Stifel wrote.<\/p>\n

Viehbacher noted that the premium \u201clooks high\u201d as compared to Apellis\u2019 current stock price, but assured investors and analysts that the deal was backed by strong due diligence and forecasted revenues.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve looked at a whole range of companies,\u201d Viehbacher said. \u201cYou can pretty much assume that anything under $5 billion of market cap we have looked at, and we believe that this was the best opportunity that really fits strategically with Biogen and where our pipeline is taking us.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Biogen isn\u2019t just buying Apellis Pharmaceuticals and two approved medicines in kidney and eye disease for $5.6 billion;…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":375834,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[103,397,396,61,60],"class_list":{"0":"post-375833","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-health-care","10":"tag-healthcare","11":"tag-ie","12":"tag-ireland"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/375833","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=375833"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/375833\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/375834"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=375833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=375833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=375833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}