E+H advises Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated on the planned acquisition of all shares in the Austrian stock corporation APEIRON Biologics AG.

Upon closing of the transaction, Ligand shall acquire all the outstanding shares of APEIRON for $100 million in cash. Ligand will also pay APEIRON shareholders additional consideration based on future commercial and regulatory events, including up to $28 million if royalties from APERION's co-developed drug QARZIBA exceed certain pre-determined thresholds by 2030 or 2034, respectively.

The transaction, which is the largest transaction in the biopharmaceutical sector so far in Austria, is expected to close in July 2024.

APEIRON is a biopharmaceutical company based in Vienna, Austria. The company holds the royalty rights to the cancer drug QARZIBA®, which it co-developed. QARZIBA was approved by the European Medicines Agency in 2017 and is now available in more than 35 countries.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals is a biopharmaceutical company that invests in the clinical development and commercialization of high value drugs. Ligand manages one of the largest biopharmaceutical royalty portfolios with more than 100 partnered programs in commercial and development stages.

E+H Team

Lead: Alric A. Ofenheimer (Partner, Corporate + M&A) and Helena Neuner (Substitute/Attorney, Corporate + M&A)

Others: Jana Eichmeyer (Partner, Employment Law | Dispute Resolution), Adrian Walser (Associate, Employment Law | Dispute Resolution), Vincenz Stockert (Associate, Corporate + M&A), Judith Feldner (Partner, Antitrust), Georg Ball (Associate, Corporate + M&A | Real Estate), Yvonne Handler (Associate, Antitrust), Marcel Neuhauser (Associate, Antitrust), René Renner (Associate, Corporate + M&A | Real Estate), Florian Sagmeister (Partner, IP/IT + Distribution Law | Antitrust), Helmut Liebel (Partner, IP/IT + Distribution Law), Andreas Zellhofer (Partner, IP/IT + Distribution Law | Antitrust)

Further Consultants

McDermott Will & Emery, Düsseldorf: Uwe Goetker and Sebastian Bonk (Corporate/M&A, both Lead); Gary Howes (Counsel, Corporate/M&A), Marcus Fischer (Counsel, U.S. & International Tax); Associates: Sebastian Klein, Jan Lorenzen, Hubertus von Bornstaedt, and Nils Ladewig (all Corpo-rate/M&A).