Japan’s Shin Nippon Biomedical Labs to buy US-based Satsuma for nasal powder migraine drug

Developed by Satsuma, STS101 is a nasal powder formulation of the anti-migraine drug, dihydroergotamine mesylate.

Japan's Shin Nippon Biomedical Labs (SNBL) agreed to buy US-based Satsuma Pharmaceuticals and the rights to the STS101 nasal powder migraine medicine, in a deal that values the Nasdaq-listed biopharmaceutical firm up to $220 million. 

SNBL, a Japanese contract research organization engaged in preclinical testing and drug development, entered into a definitive agreement to purchase all shares of Satsuma for $0.91 each in cash or about $30.2 million, according to an announcement on 16 April. 

The offer also includes an additional non-tradeable contingent value right (CVR) of as much as $5.77 per share for a total of up to $192.5 million, based on proceeds from the future monetization of the STS101 drug.

“We are very pleased to announce that SNBL will be involved in the launch of this novel intranasal drug,” SNBL chairman and president Ryoichi Nagata said in a statement. “We look forward to STS101 potentially becoming a treatment option for people with migraine as soon as possible.”

The acquisition will give SNBL worldwide rights to develop, manufacture and commercialize STS101, a nasal powder formulation of the anti-migraine drug, dihydroergotamine mesylate, administered via Satsuma’s nasal delivery device for the acute treatment of migraine. It has recently completed phase 3 clinical trials and is currently under FDA review.

With an estimated 39 million people suffering from migraine headaches in the US with a large portion between the ages of 20 and 40 years, the Japanese firm noted that there is a need for a product that can quickly relieve headaches, especially since the existing liquid nasal sprays in the market are “unreliable” and “slow to absorb.”

In the US alone, the market for migraine therapeutics is estimated to have reached $16 billion in 2017, it said.