(Reuters) -Swiss drugmaker Novartis has agreed to buy Regulus Therapeutics for up to $1.7 billion to gain access to its experimental kidney disease drug, the California-based drug developer said on Wednesday.
Shares of Regulus surged nearly 15% to $3.86 in premarket trading.
Under terms of the deal, Novartis would pay Regulus upfront $7 per share in cash, or about $800 million, which represents a premium of about 108% to the stock’s last closing price.
Regulus is also eligible to receive an additional $7 per share contingent upon certain regulatory milestones for the kidney disease drug, farabursen.
The deal is expected to be completed in the second half of this year.
(Reporting by Mariam Sunny in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)
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