Through its acquisition of RayzeBio, Biopharmaceutical Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) has made its debut as a competitor in the radiopharmaceutical therapeutics market.

The company purchased 86% of RayzeBio’s common stock at $62.50 per share in cash, adding up to approximately $4.1 billion for approximately 53,052,499 shares in total (86% of RayzeBio’s issued and outstanding shares of common stock). Following the completion of the deal, RayzBio ceased trading on the NASDAQ Global Market and became a wholly owned subsidiary of BMS.

Its addition gives BMS a pipeline for radiopharmaceutical therapeutics, including its lead program RYZ101 (225Ac-DOTATATE), which targets somatostatin receptor 2 (SSTR), a type of receptor protein found on the surface of neuroendocrine cells and overexpressed in gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (GEP-NETs) and extensive stage small cell lung cancer (ES-SCLC).
“By strengthening and further diversifying our oncology pipeline beyond immuno-oncology, we will unlock exciting opportunities that support BMS’s growth in the back half of the decade and beyond,” said Chris Boerner, chief executive officer of Bristol Myers Squibb, in a statement.

A Phase III clinical trial is currently underway and enrolling patients to assess the effects of RYZ101 in those with SSTR-positive GEP-NETs previously treated with lutetium-177-based somatostatin therapies. Interim results from the phase 1b portion of the ACTION-1 clinical trial, a two-part, global, randomized controlled study, were encouraging, according to Rayzbio. Another phase 1b clinical trial is enrolling patients to evaluate the combination of RYZ101 and standard-of-care therapy as a first-line treatment for ES-SCLC.

As a result, the RayzeBio platform shows potential for producing a significant pool of investigational new drug candidates. It also includes a state-of-the-art RPT manufacturing facility that will begin operations in the first half of 2024.

BMS completed the acquisition by merging its wholly-owned subsidiary Rudolph Merger Sub Inc. with RayzeBio and did so without approval from RayzeBio’s stockholders. The per-share cash payment of $62.50 was originally part of a tender offer that expired at midnight on February 23.

Any shares of RayzeBio common stock that were issued and outstanding and not tendered in the offer were converted into cash payments of $62.50 per share, ensuring that shareholders who did not participate in the tender offer received equitable compensation for their shares.

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