With its latest acquisition, women’s health outfit Organon is bringing its dermatology business to the U.S. with a potential blockbuster in tow.
Organon is set to acquire Roivant’s immuno-dermatology subsidiary Dermavant for up to $1.2 billion, the companies announced Wednesday. Under the terms of the deal—which is expected to close in the fourth quarter—Organon will dish out an upfront payment of $175 million.
Organon will also furnish Dermavant with a $75 million milestone payment contingent upon Vtama’s approval in atopic dermatitis (eczema), which is also expected in the last three months of 2024.
Another $950 million is on the table for Dermavant based on the achievement of certain commercial milestones, the companies said. Plus, Organon will pay Dermavent shareholders tiered royalties on net sales.
The crown jewel of the deal is undoubtedly Vtama, Dermavant’s steroid-free cream for plaque psoriasis. The drug snagged its initial FDA greenlight in May 2022.
While sales of Vtama scaled slowly last year, causing some analysts to temper their blockbuster expectations, Dermavant’s CEO, Todd Zavodnick, has remained confident that the drug will reach its full potential, telling Fierce in November that “[i]t’s not a matter of if, it’s when.”
Vtama is nearing a major expansion opportunity in atopic dermatitis, which would triple the med’s eligible patient population. After posting a phase 3 eczema trial win in January, the Roivant unit filed for approval in adults and kids ages 2 years and up in late April. The FDA is expected to issue its verdict on the drug in atopic dermatitis sometime during the fourth quarter.
Psoriasis affects more than 8 million people living in the U.S. over the age of 20 and 125 million people worldwide, Organon said. Atopic dermatitis, for its part, affects roughly 16.5 million adults and 9.6 million children in the U.S. According to Organon, women are impacted disproportionately by the skin conditions, with atopic dermatitis in particular linked to higher disease burden for women versus men.
For Dermavant’s fiscal year ended March 31, Vtama brought home total sales of $75.1 million. Throughout the earnings period, Vtama steadily grew sales—from $13.7 million in the first quarter to $19.3 million in the fourth.
As of May, 15,300 prescribers had written more than 385,000 Vtama prescriptions, according to a Roivant earnings release.
Selling off its specialized subsidiaries is nothing new for Roivant.
Last October, the company agreed to a $7.1 billion deal for Swiss pharma giant Roche to acquire Telavant and its investigational antibody for inflammatory bowel disease, RVT-3101. The acquisition closed in December.
Meanwhile, Organon has been on a dealmaking streak of its own in recent months.
Following the $50 million purchase of European rights to two Eli Lilly migraine medicines in December, Organon’s CEO, Kevin Ali, said the deal was “not a one-off,” during an earnings call in February.
“There’s plenty in the queue that ultimately we can go after that are really nice opportunities for continuing revenue growth and [earnings] growth,” the CEO said at the time.
In August, Organon upped its migraine accord with Lilly to the tune of $22.5 million, expanding its licensing pact to become the sole promoter and distributor of Emgality (included in the original EU deal) in Canada, Colombia, Israel, South Korea, Kuwait, Mexico, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.