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Vertex Pharmaceuticals will spend $10 billion to acquire Crinetics Pharmaceuticals and its drug for a rare endocrine disorder, the companies announced Monday.
Through the deal, Vertex will pick up Crinetics’ commercial drug, Palsonify, which was launched last year and which treats a rare endocrine disorder called acromegaly, as well as other drug candidates that have blockbuster potential if approved. The company is also in the late stages of developing a therapy for congenital adrenal hyperplasia.
The $10 billion price tag for Crinetics amounts to roughly $85 per share of the company’s stock. Following the news, Crinetics shares rose 101 percent in after-hours trading.
The deal is the largest acquisition in Vertex’s history, surpassing its $4.9 billion purchase of Alpine Immune Sciences in 2024. The Boston-based drugmaker has been on a mission to build out the next generation of drug products beyond its cystic fibrosis portfolio. In recent years, it launched the pain medication Journavx and a gene-editing treatment for sickle cell disease — the first of its kind — but both have faced slow commercial launches.
Palsonify faces competition from Novartis, Ipsen, and Chiesi, which all sell therapies for acromegaly, a condition in which the pituitary gland produces too much growth hormone, leading to abnormally large bones, organs, and other tissues. So far, there has been steady uptake of Crinetics’ medication, according to analyst reports.
Beyond Vertex, the pharmaceutical industry writ large has flocked to M&A to counter a significant wave of patent expirations lately. Nearly three dozen biotech companies have been acquired in the first six months of the year, surpassing the number of blockbuster deals made last year.
Midsize biotech companies of Vertex’s ilk have been notably active. UCB, Biogen, and Incyte have all made deals worth $1 billion or more.