Biogen to Acquire Apellis for $5.6B

Biogen has agreed to acquire Apellis Pharmaceuticals for $5.6 billion in cash. The deal adds two immune system-regulating products, Syfovre and Empaveli, which launched relatively recently, and brings Apellis talent with nephrology expertise.

Biogen CFO Robin Kramer said the combined cash flow from Biogen and Apellis is expected to support debt leverage ratios and free capacity for other strategic transactions. The acquisition is positioned to complement Biogen’s pipeline, including felzartamab, a drug in testing for uncommon kidney illnesses, and antibody-mediated rejection.

Biogen ended last year with about $4.2 billion in cash and cash equivalents and roughly $6.3 billion in total debt.