Matheson recently advised Novo Nordisk A/S, a Danish multinational pharmaceutical company, alongside Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, on its acquisition of Neotope Neuroscience Limited a wholly owned subsidiary of Prothena Corporation plc.
Novo Nordisk A/S were advised by a cross-departmental Matheson team led by Corporate M&A partner David Fitzgibbon, Tax partner Aidan Fahy, Tax Principal John Ryan and Corporate senior associate John Coary.
Novo Nordisk A/S is a global healthcare company, founded in 1923 and headquartered in Denmark. Novo Nordisk employs more than 45,000 people in 80 offices around the world, and markets its products in 169 countries.
The agreement between the two companies means that Novo Nordisk A/S has acquired Prothena’s clinical stage antibody PRX004 and broader ATTR amyloidosis programme.
Under the terms of the agreement, Novo Nordisk A/S acquires full worldwide rights to the intellectual property and related rights of Prothena’s ATTR amyloidosis business and pipeline. Prothena is eligible to receive development and sales milestone payments up to US$1.2 billion, including US$100 million dollars upfront and near-term clinical payments. On completion of the agreement, Novo Nordisk intends to initially focus on the clinical development of PRX004 in ATTR cardiomyopathy.
David Fitzgibbon, Matheson corporate partner commented:
“We were very pleased to have advised Novo Nordisk on this exciting acquisition. Novo Nordisk is a global leader in the pharmaceutical sector and we are delighted to have worked with their team to extend Novo Nordisk’s commitment to bring therapies to market within the cardiovascular disease area.. We have recently advised on a number of clinical stage therapy acquisitions and only see this market continuing to expand both domestically and globally.”
Aidan Fahy, Matheson tax partner commented:
“We were delighted to assist in making this a smooth and tax-efficient acquisition for them. By assisting in early planning and structuring of deals of this nature, we have a history of consistently being able to provide value for our clients and maximise returns for key stakeholders.”
With a wealth of experience across our six partner led offices worldwide and a dedicated 100 person Corporate Department, Matheson has some of the most experienced corporate lawyers in Ireland. Excellence matters and Matheson’s Corporate Department, led by 23 partners, has unparalleled experience in complex and innovative domestic and international corporate transactions across all industry sectors.