Skip to main content

The creation of a new niche specialty pharmaceutical company focusedon rare diseases - with strong cash flow generation and growthpotential



Biovitrum and Swedish Orphan will be combined forming Swedish Orphan
Biovitrum with pro forma revenues 2009 of approximately SEK 2 billion
and an EBITDA margin of 15 percent. Biovitrum will pay an upfront
consideration of SEK 3.5 billion (on a cash and debt free basis), to
be financed by a fully guaranteed rights issue, an issue in kind and
bank financing. The Transaction will be instantly accretive to
earnings per share for Biovitrum's shareholders.

 Read the whole pressrelease at:
http://www.biovitrum.com/templates/InformationPage.aspx?id=818

Shared mission. Biovitrum AB (publ) ("Biovitrum") and Swedish Orphan
International AB ("Swedish Orphan") will be combined forming Swedish
Orphan Biovitrum ("SO-Bi") (the "Transaction"). Biovitrum and Swedish
Orphan share the same mission and business philosophy of developing
and making available orphan drugs and niche specialty pharmaceuticals
for patients with rare diseases and patients with high unmet medical
needs.

Complementary capabilities. Swedish Orphan brings recognized and
successful business development capabilities, strong expertise in
distribution, marketing, regulatory affairs, medical and customer
support, along with its pan-European presence. This is highly
complementary to Biovitrum's strong product development expertise and
manufacturing skills. More specifically, Swedish Orphan brings two
proprietary orphan and niche specialty drugs as well as a diverse
in-licensing portfolio of approximately 50 orphan and niche specialty
drugs with significant growth potential to the combined group.
Biovitrum contributes with its strong hemophilia franchise,
manufacturing capability, several marketed niche specialty products,
of which three are proprietary, as well as a late stage clinical
development pipeline within rare diseases.

Strong platform for growth and profitability. The combination of the
two companies is expected to be instantly accretive to earnings per
share for Biovitrum's shareholders. The combined group will generate
sales from approximately 60 orphan/niche specialty products plus a
pipeline of two phase III and five phase II clinical product
candidates to drive future growth. The combination will allow the new
group to realize annual operating cost synergies and cost avoidance
in excess of SEK 100 million with full effect from 2011. In addition,
Swedish Orphan's established European sales and marketing
infrastructure is expected to accelerate the growth of Biovitrum's
current products as well as future pipeline products. The pro forma
revenues for 2009 are estimated to reach SEK 2 billion with an EBITDA
margin of about 15 per cent. The new group has a target to reach
sales exceeding SEK 5 billion with an EBIT margin exceeding 30 per
cent in 2015, based on its current product portfolio and pipeline.

Shareholder support. Shareholders in Biovitrum, including Investor
AB, representing 67 per cent of the capital and votes in Biovitrum in
aggregate, have expressed their support for the Transaction and the
industrial logic in the combination. The major shareholders in
Biovitrum, Investor AB and MPM Capital, will propose
Dr Bo Jesper Hansen, CEO of Swedish Orphan, to become Executive Vice
Chairman in the new SO-Bi group. After the Transaction he will own 3
per cent of the shares in SO-Bi. Martin Nicklasson, current CEO of
Biovitrum AB, will become CEO of SO-Bi.

"The two companies fit like a hand in a glove. By joining forces with
Swedish Orphan, Biovitrum takes another important step in the
transformation set out in the strategy adopted two years ago. In one
giant leap, we form a company with a leading position within rare
diseases and a solid platform for future growth and profitability,"
says Biovitrum's CEO Martin Nicklasson.

"Swedish Orphan has undergone a tremendous development from a
business primarily focused on the Nordic region to a broad
pan-European business with both proprietary and in-licensed products.
Along with Biovitrum's product portfolio and late stage pipeline, we
can further leverage Swedish Orphan's strong platform in a value
creating manner while continuing both companies' commitment to rare
disease patients and patients with unmet medical needs. This is a
truly complimentary and winning combination," says Swedish Orphan's
CEO Bo Jesper Hansen.

For more information please contact:
Martin Nicklasson, CEO Biovitrum
Phone: +46 70 540 71 73

Dr Bo Jesper Hansen, CEO Swedish Orphan
Phone: +46 8 412 98 00

Göran Arvidson, CFO Biovitrum
Phone: +46 70 633 30 42

Erik Kinnman, EVP Investor Relations Biovitrum
Phone: +46 73 422 15 40
[email protected]

About Biovitrum
Biovitrum is an international pharmaceutical company that markets
specialist pharmaceuticals in several regions. Using its expertise
and experience Biovitrum takes scientific innovation to patients with
significant unmet medical need. Research expertise and capabilities
are focused on development and production of biotechnology
therapeutics within our prioritized areas of hemophilia,
inflammation/autoimmune diseases, cancer supportive care and
malabsorption. Biovitrum has revenues of approximately SEK 1.2
billion and approximately 400 employees (prior to the Transaction).
Biovitrum's head office is located in Sweden and the share is listed
on the NASDAQ OMX Stockholm. For more information please visit
www.biovitrum.com.

The above information has been made public in accordance with the
Securities Market Act and/or the Financial Instruments Trading Act.
The information was published at 09:30 CET on November 5, 2009.
PDF
Subscribe

To stay up to date with our development, please subscribe to our press releases.

Sign up