October 5, 2015
By Mark Terry, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
Horizon Pharma , with worldwide headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, announced today that it was moving and expanding its U.S. corporate headquarters from Deerfield, Ill. To Lake Forest, Ill.
The company’s new headquarters will be located at 150 South Saunders Road and will take up the first through fourth floors of the 160,000-square-foot building. This will triple its current U.S. space.
“Horizon has come a long way in eight years — from one employee working in a coffee shop — to more than 700 global employees,” said Timothy Walbert, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Horizon in a statement. “In the last year alone, we have added nearly 100 employees in our U.S. headquarters and have experienced tremendous growth in the business overall. With this progress, as well as planning for future expansion, we needed to increase our physical space. Our new U.S. headquarters will provide us room to continue on this growth trajectory, and ultimately, to serve more patients.”
Horizon markets a portfolio of drugs to treat arthritis, inflammation and rare diseases. They include Duexis, Pennsaid, Rayos and Vimovo for arthritis and inflammation, Actimmune to treat chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) and severe, malignant osteopetrosis (SMO), and Buphenyl and Ravicti to treat patients with urea cycle disorders (UCDs).
On Friday the company announced that its affiliate Horizon Pharma Switzerland GmbH had resolved patent litigation involving RAYOS (prednisone) Delayed-Release Tablets with Actavis Laboratories FL, Inc. Under that deal, Horizon granted Actavis the right to market a version of the drug in the U.S. under the Actavis Abbreviated New Drug Application starting Dec. 23, 2022 or earlier, depending on specific circumstances.
RAYOS, marketed as LODOTRA in Europe, is a delayed-release formulation of low-dose prednisone used to treat rheumatoid arthritis.
On Sept. 30, ten analysts had an average consensus rating of “buy.” Two analysts rated it “hold” and eight gave it a “buy” rating. The 12-month average price target among the ten analysts was $38.71. Company is currently trading for $21.24 per share.
In a Sept. 30 summary of the company’s financial status, The Street reported, “This stock has increased by 92.78 percent over the past year, outperforming the rise in the S&P 500 Index during the same period. Regarding the future course of this stock, we feel that the risks involved in investing in HZNP do not compensate for any future upside potential, despite the fact that it has seen nice gains over the past 12 months.”
Horizon is currently in the midst of a hostile takeover attempt of Newark, Calif.-based Depomed, Inc. So far Depomed had rejected three bids from Horizon. On Oct. 1, Depomed reported to shareholders that Horizon’s all-stock bid of $15.97 was “nowhere near the $33 per share Horizon continues to disingenuously tout in communications to you. In addition, the offer does not reflect the value Depomed would contribute to the combined company.”
Depomed focuses on products to treat pain and other central nervous system (CNS) diseases. It currently markets NUCYNTA ER (tapentadol) for pain management.
