Shire plc completed its merger with Baxalta Friday, creating what is expected to be a global leader in rare diseases.
According to a press release from Shire, the combined company is expected to deliver growth with more than $25 billion in annual revenues by 2020. Shire now has more than 50 programs in clinical development.
The company features more than 22,000 employees across more than 100 countries, including in a plant currently in development in Newton County.
“Upon the completion of our combination with Baxalta, Shire is now the global leader in rare diseases, with the number one rare diseases platform based on both revenue and pipeline programs,” said Flemming Ornskov, M.D. M.P.H., Shire Chief Executive Officer. “With our multiple high-value franchises, each with best-in-class products and a robust innovative portfolio, we further extend our capabilities for innovation and sustainable growth with patients at the center of everything we do.”
Baxalta and Shire entered into a $32 billion merger deal in January, and the two companies’ shareholders agreed to the merger last week. In July, Baxalta officially split from Baxter International, which began building a 162-acre facility in Stanton Springs.
The facility, located off Hwy. 278, includes 54 acres in Newton County, and is scheduled to produce plasma-based treatments Gammagard and Albumin by 2018. The signage around the plant will now be changed to Shire plc.
“Newton County should be happy that the transaction is complete, and we now have a $25 billion plus company in our community,” said Covington-Newton County Chamber of Commerce President Ralph Staffins. “I am sure that the acquisition will allow all the great, local employees to continue to grow the state’s largest economic development project here in Newton County and continue to increase our local economy.”
With the merger, Gail Fosler and Albert Stroucken were appointed to the Shire Board of Directors; Baxalta shareholders will receive a combination of $18 in cash and 0.1482 Shire ADS’s for each Baxalta Share; Baxalta became an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Shire and Shire will provide a full and unconditional guarantee of Baxalta’s obligations to the holders of Baxalta’s senior notes.
Shire has products available in more than 100 countries across therapeutic areas such as Hematology, Immunology, Neuroscience, Lysosomal Storage Disorders, Gastrointestinal/Internal Medicine/Endocrine and Hereditary Angioedema, a growing franchise in Oncology and an emerging pipeline in Ophthalmics.
