The pharmaceutical company Esteve is advancing in its ambitious acquisition strategy. With a budget of €1 billion, the company already acquired France’s HRA Pharma Rare Diseases in 2024. Less than a year later, the Catalan firm has reached an agreement with Japan’s Takeda to acquire its mifamurtide business, a treatment for osteosarcoma, a type of bone cancer.
The deal between both companies is still pending final details and regulatory approvals, according to sources consulted by elEconomista.es. The main asset in the transaction is Mepact, a treatment for osteosarcoma, which primarily affects children and young adults.
Mepact is available for clinical use in Spain and has been approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for patients aged 2 to 30 years. However, the drug has not been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Takeda acquired the drug in 2009 when it purchased U.S.-based IDM Pharma for $75 million. At the time, Mepact was the company’s flagship product. Given its development since then, the deal with Esteve is expected to exceed €100 million.
Esteve’s Acquisition Strategy
As Esteve’s CEO, Staffan Schüberg, stated in a May interview with elEconomista.es, the company has an acquisition capacity of around €1 billion. With this strategy, it acquired HRA Pharma Rare Diseases last year, a company specializing in rare and severe diseases, with three key drugs for Cushing’s syndrome and Adrenocortical Carcinoma:
- Metopirone
- Lysodren
- Ketoconazole HRA
Schüberg emphasized that Esteve’s focus is on “diseases with few patients,” particularly in oncology, ophthalmology, and pain management. In addition to acquiring companies, the firm is open to “more collaborations with biotech firms, as well as acquiring drugs in development from universities, biotech companies, or other firms.”
Divestments and Strategic Moves
Esteve has also been active in divestments. In December, Esteve and Japan’s Teijin announced the sale of their respiratory therapy subsidiary—jointly owned (50% each)—to another Japanese company, Nippon Sanso Holdings Corporation.