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AstraZeneca (AZN) Set to Acquire CinCor Pharma for $1.3B

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AstraZeneca (AZN - Free Report) announced a definitive agreement to acquire CinCor Pharma for approximately $1.3 billion.

CinCor Pharma makes medicines to treat resistant and uncontrolled hypertension as well as chronic kidney disease. The acquisition will add Cincor’s lead candidate, baxdrostat (CIN-107), a novel aldosterone synthase inhibitor (ASI) being developed for lowering blood pressure in treatment-resistant hypertension.

Baxdrostat’s addition will strengthen AstraZeneca’s cardio-renal pipeline. Baxdrostat, in a phase II study, called BrigHTN, has shown a statistically significant reduction in systolic blood pressure (SBP) in patients with treatment-resistant hypertension, after a treatment period of 12 weeks, thereby meeting the study’s primary endpoint. However, the candidate failed to meet the primary endpoint of another phase II study called HALO in patients with uncontrolled hypertension, as it failed to show a statistically significant reduction in SBP at eight weeks. A phase III study on baxdrostat for treatment-resistant hypertension is expected to begin in the first half of 2023. AstraZeneca may study a combination of baxdrostat with its own diabetes medicine, Farxiga,

AstraZeneca stock has risen 22.5% in the past year compared with an increase of 15.3% for the industry.

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For the deal, AstraZeneca has offered a purchase price of $26 per share in cash, which represents a premium of 121% on Cincor’s closing price on Jan 6. The upfront cash portion of the purchase consideration represents a transaction value of approximately $1.3 billion. In addition, the purchase consideration also includes a non-tradable contingent value right of $10 per share in cash to be paid if a regulatory milestone for baxdrostat is reached. CinCor Pharma’s shares were up almost 144% on Monday following the news.

Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider

AstraZeneca has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked large drugmakers are Sanofi (SNY - Free Report) and Novo Nordisk (NVO - Free Report) . While Sanofi has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), Novo Nordisk sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Sanofi’s earnings per share estimates for 2022 have increased from $4.07 per share to $4.29 while that for 2023 have jumped from $4.24 per share to $4.34 in the past 60 days. Sanofi’s stock has lost 5.8% in the past year.

Sanofi beat earnings expectations in all the trailing four quarters. The company delivered a four-quarter earnings surprise of 9.50%, on average.

Estimates for Novo Nordisk’s 2022 earnings per share have increased from $3.24 per share to $3.37, while that for 2023 have jumped from $3.99 per share to $4.18 in the past 60 days. Novo Nordisk’s stock has risen 34.8% in the past year.

Novo Nordisk beat earnings expectations in three of the trailing four quarters. The company delivered a four-quarter earnings surprise of 3.09%, on average.


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