Alkermes To Acquire Rodin Therapeutics, Boost CNS Pipeline

Alkermes Plc. (NASDAQ:ALKS) announced that it will acquire privately-held Rodin Therapeutics for an upfront cash payment of $100 million and up to $850 million in milestone payments. The deal is expected to close by the end of November.

Shares of the company have slumped 31.7% against the industry’s growth of 2.5%.

The deal will enable Alkermes to expand its central nervous system (CNS) development efforts into a wide range of neurodegenerative disorders through epigenetic control of synaptogenesis.

Rodin is developing therapeutics for synaptopathies by designing molecules that target specific histone deacetylase (HDAC) complexes. Synaptic dysfunction is a feature in many neurogenerative diseases and neuropsychiatric diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease, Huntington's disease, frontotemporal dementia and depression, and synaptic loss may result in cognitive decline.

Alkermes plans to advance investigational new drug (IND)-enabling activities for lead preclinical assets in the Rodin development candidate portfolio. Alkermes also intends to continue Rodin’s preclinical research program focused on the subset of frontotemporal dementia patients with an inherited mutation of the progranulin gene (FTD-GRN) and exploratory work in hematological disorders and oncology.

Alkermes expects to incur about $20 million of incremental Research & Development (R&D) expenses in 2020. The company will provide financial expectations for 2020 in February.

Zacks Rank & Other Stocks to Consider

Alkermes currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

A few other similar-ranked stocks in the biotech sector are Guardant Health Inc. (NASDAQ:GH) , Anika Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:ANIK) and Coherus BioSciences Inc. (NASDAQ:CHRS) . You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Guardant Health Inc.’s loss per share estimates have narrowed from $1.27 to 88 cents for 2019 and from $1.29 to $1.19 for 2020 in the past 60 days. The company delivered a positive earnings surprise in the trailing four quarters by 39.21% on average.

Anika’s earnings per share estimates have increased from $1.75 to $2.03 for 2019 and from $1.36 to $1.62 for 2020 in the past 60 days. The company delivered a positive earnings surprise in the trailing four quarters by 53.31% on average.

Coherus BioSciences’ earnings per share estimates have increased from 89 cents to $1.15 for 2019 and from $1.25 to $1.50 for 2020 in the past 60 days. The company delivered a positive earnings surprise in the three of the trailing four quarters by 149.94% on average.

Biggest Tech Breakthrough in a Generation

Be among the early investors in the new type of device that experts say could impact society as much as the discovery of electricity. Current technology will soon be outdated and replaced by these new devices. In the process, it’s expected to create 22 million jobs and generate $12.3 trillion in activity. A select few stocks could skyrocket the most as rollout accelerates for this new tech. Early investors could see gains similar to buying Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) in the 1990s. Zacks’ just-released special report reveals 8 stocks to watch. The report is only available for a limited time.

See 8 breakthrough stocks now>>