Homburger advises on the sale of Therachon with its Achondroplasia program to Pfizer and the spin-off of Therachon's Apraglutide program

On May 8, 2019, Pfizer Inc. (Pfizer) and Therachon Holding AG (Therachon) announced that Pfizer entered into a definitive agreement to acquire all shares in Therachon for USD 340 m upfront with an additional USD 470 m contingent on the achievement of milestones. Therachon is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on rare diseases, with assets in development for the treatment of achondroplasia and short bowel syndrome (SBS). While Pfizer expands its rare disease portfolio with TA-46 for the treatment of achondroplasia, Therachon will spin-off its SBS program (apraglutide) into a separate, independent company.

Homburger advised Therachon in this transaction, including with respect to the sale of the shares in Therachon and the spin-off of the apraglutide development program.

The Homburger team was led by partner Dieter Gericke (Corporate / M&A) and included partners Stefan Oesterhelt (Tax) and Georg Rauber (IP / IT), lead associate Andreas Müller (Corporate / M&A), and associates Kevin Hubacher, Lorenzo Togni, and Viktorija Tarasova as well as junior associates Frédéric Fitzi and Jasmin Künzle (all Corporate / M&A), associates Marc Vogelsang and Manuel Dubach (both Tax), counsel Peter Müller (Tax; Benefits), associates Irène Suter-Sieber (Employment and Executive Compensation), Luca Dal Molin (IP / IT) and Richard Stäuber (Competition). Cooley LLP acted as US counsel to Therachon.