Harmony Biosciences to Acquire Zynerba Pharmaceuticals

Harmony Biosciences announced a definitive agreement to acquire Zynerba Pharmaceuticals on Aug. 14, 2023, where Harmony will acquire all outstanding shares of Zynerba for a price of $1.1059 per share in cash, or $60 million in the aggregate, according to the press release.

“This is an important step in Harmony’s strategy to build a diversified portfolio of innovative assets to address unmet medical needs and drive our long-term growth. This acquisition affords us the opportunity to advance the development and delivery of a potentially transformative treatment for the symptoms of Fragile X syndrome and other rare neuropsychiatric disorders,” said Jeffrey M. Dayno, MD, president and chief executive officer at Harmony Biosciences, in a press release. “In addition to the strength of our core business in narcolepsy and our current life cycle management programs, led by idiopathic hypersomnia, we are excited to continue to diversify our portfolio beyond sleep/wake by adding Zynerba’s clinical development programs to our pipeline. The team at Zynerba has been dedicated to these programs and we are confident that our combined efforts could have a profound impact on individuals living with rare neuropsychiatric disorders and their families."

Zygel is the first and only pharmaceutically manufactured, synthetic cannabidiol that is formulated as a patient-protected permeation-enhanced gel for transdermal delivery, according to the press release. It is not extracted from a cannabis plant, but rather, a synthetic process in a current good manufacturing practice facility, and can be a nonscheduled product if approved. Additionally, it is being evaluated in a Phase III clinical trial for patients living with FXS in the RECONNECT trial.

“Harmony’s development and commercial expertise, technologies, people and focus on rare neurological diseases are an excellent strategic fit with Zynerba,” said Armando Anido, chairman and chief executive officer of Zynerba, in a press release. “I am very proud of Zynerba’s accomplishments with Zygel to date. With Harmony’s scale, resources, and proven commercial excellence, they are well positioned to potentially bring to market the first pharmaceutical product indicated for the treatment of behavioral symptoms of Fragile X syndrome and to maximize the value of Zygel.”

Source: Harmony Biosciences