Overview
- The companies announced a definitive all‑cash agreement on Monday under which Vertex will pay $85 a share for Crinetics in a transaction valued at $10 billion and unanimously approved by both boards.
- Vertex will acquire Palsonify, a once‑daily oral therapy launched in the U.S. in 2025 and approved in Europe in 2026, and atumelnant, an oral ACTH antagonist now in Phase III for congenital adrenal hyperplasia.
- The acquisition will be funded with cash on hand plus a fully committed $4.5 billion, 364‑day unsecured bridge financing facility from Bank of America and Morgan Stanley, and includes a roughly $350 million termination fee under certain conditions.
- Closing is expected in the third quarter pending Hart‑Scott‑Rodino antitrust review, foreign regulatory clearances and Crinetics shareholder approval, and markets reacted by sending Crinetics shares up about 99–101% and Vertex shares modestly lower.
- Vertex projects Palsonify and atumelnant could deliver more than $5 billion in combined peak annual revenue and says the deal will help diversify the company’s heavy concentration in cystic fibrosis sales while accelerating rare‑disease growth.