Vectura to acquire Skyepharma

Inhaled drug manufacturers Vectura and Skyepharma have announced a merger agreement in which Vectura will acquire Skyepharma for a total of £441 million ($638 million). Both boards have approved the merger. Vectura previously acquired Activaero in 2014.

Vectura CEO James Ward-Lilley will continue as CEO and Vectura Chairman Bruno Angelici will continue as Chairman of the enlarged group. Skyepharma Chairman Frank Condella will become Vice-Chairman, with Skyepharma Chief Financial Officer Andrew Derodra becoming CFO.

Ward-Lilley joined Vectura from AstraZeneca in June 2015. In January 2016, the company revealed that its US partner for the VR 315 DPI, a generic version of Advair, is Roxane Laboratories, a subsidiary of Boehringer Ingelheim.

At the end of 2015, Skyepharma announced that it had partnered with Mundipharma for development of its SKP-2076 ICS/LABA/LAMA MDI.

Read a Reuters article on the merger.