Chiesi Group is taking KalVista Pharmaceuticals under its wing, paying $1.9 billion for the biotech’s oral therapy Ekterly to treat severe swelling episodes caused by the rare genetic disorder hereditary angioedema.
Chiesi Group is acquiring KalVista Pharmaceuticals and its hereditary angioedema treatment Ekterly, which secured FDA approval last summer and has since enjoyed a highly successful launch.
Italy-based Chiesi’s rare disease group spearheaded the deal, paying the Massachusetts biotech $27 per share in cash for an estimated total value of $1.9 billion, according to a Wednesday release. The deal terms represent a 36% premium on KalVista’s 30-day average share price.
The acquisition is expected to close in the third quarter of this year and is “Chiesi’s most substantial acquisition to date in value terms,” according to the Italian drugmaker. Back in 2023, the company penned a takeover of rare disease–focused Amryt Pharma and the now approved Filsuvez topical gel for up to $1.25 billion upfront.
Once today’s deal is complete, Chiesi will gain access to KalVista’s Ekterly, the first oral, on-demand, plasma kallikrein inhibitor to be marketed for acute hereditary angioedema (HAE) attacks among patients 12 years and older. The genetic condition causes days-long swelling attacks that can be extremely painful and even life-threatening.
While patients with HAE can receive Ionis’ Dawnzera or CSL’s Andembry—both injectable prophylactic drugs administered regularly to prevent occurrences—Ekterly is the only drug among the three that can be taken on-demand to quell attacks as they pop up.
“Chiesi’s $1.9B acquisition of KALV and its oral on-demand treatment for HAE attacks reflects strong strategic interest in the oral HAE space,” analysts with RBC Capital Markets wrote in a Wednesday note.
After securing an FDA greenlight last July, KalVista’s therapy hit $49.1 million in 2025 sales. With approvals in the U.S., E.U. and other regions already under its belt, KalVista is currently conducting studies evaluating Ekterly for patients younger than 12 years.
Chiesi expects Ekterly to “meaningfully contribute” to its 2030 strategic revenue target of €6 billion” ($7 billion), while also bolstering the drugmaker’s commercial infrastructure and market presence in the U.S., according to today’s release.
“In HAE, patients continue to face significant unmet needs, and KalVista’s innovation meaningfully expands our presence in rare immunology by adding a differentiated, on-demand treatment option that can bring meaningful advancement in how the disease can be managed,” Giacomo Chiesi, executive vice president for Chiesi Global Rare Diseases, said in a Wednesday statement.
Once KalVista is acquired, Pharvaris and BioCryst Pharmaceuticals will be the only smaller public biotechs working on HAE therapies, “likely adding an incremental layer of M&A optionality to both names,” RBC analysts noted.
In particular, Pharvaris is developing deucrictibant, an immediate-release drug that RBC said has a superior clinical profile to Ekterly across key efficacy endpoints.
“Although deucrictibant IR will likely be second to market, we believe that lower switching barriers between oral agents could enable PHVS to capture meaningful share,” the analysts wrote.
Meanwhile, analysts at Stifel called the acquisition “a very solid outcome for Kalvista given the likely more narrow pool of potential buyers for the company, which secures an exit while not taking on the risk of competitor PHVS’ prophy readout/near-term launch in HAE.”
