Innoviva snaps up La Jolla and its 2 FDA-approved drugs for $149M

When La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company scored its first approval—getting septic shock treatment Giapreza across the FDA finish line in 2017—the drug was projected to reach $500 million in sales and help transform the San Diego biotech into a major commercial enterprise.

But five years later, with sales of Giapreza lagging, La Jolla has sold out to royalty management company Innoviva of Waltham, Massachusetts, for $149 million.

Innoviva intends to pay $5.95 per share, which is a 70% premium on La Jolla’s 30-day average share price, the companies said in a release. They expect the deal to close before the end of August.

The acquisition adds to Innoviva’s portfolio of marketed products. Last year, Giapreza’s sales reached $33.4 million, a 14% increase from 2020, while a second La Jolla product, Xerava, generated sales of $10.1 million for a 23% increase.

Giapreza, which treats dangerously low blood pressure, has not been able to crack the dominance of Endo’s Vasostrict, which made $901 million in 2021 in its last year of exclusivity. In January, Eagle Pharmaceuticals launched a generic version of the drug, and others are soon to follow, Endo said.

Xerava, a drug to treat infections that was approved in 2018, was acquired by La Jolla in 2020 when it bought out Tetraphase.

The deal came seven months after La Jolla revealed that it had halted a late-stage trial of its beta thalassemia drug LJPC-401 and that its CEO George Tidmarsh was leaving “to pursue other interests.”

La Jolla is now guided by former Tetraphase CEO Larry Edwards, who said in the release that the Innoviva deal “provides our stockholders with immediate value at a compelling premium.”

Innoviva has been in transition as well. In May of last year, GSK announced a $392 million selloff of its 32% stake in the company. The two had partnered on respiratory products Breo Ellipta, Anoro Ellipta and Trelegy Ellipta.

Just seven weeks ago, Innoviva revealed it was acquiring biotech Entasis Therapeutics, an AstraZeneca spinout.