AbbVie to buy Cerevel in $8.7B bet on brain drugs

AbbVie is restocking its drug pipeline in a big way, announcing Wednesday an $8.7 billion deal to buy neuroscience-focused Cerevel Therapeutics just days after agreeing to a similar sized acquisition of the cancer biotechnology company ImmunoGen.

Per the deal, AbbVie will pay $45 per share of Cerevel, which is developing medicines for schizophrenia, dementia and Parkinson’s disease. The buyout price is 22% higher than Cerevel stock’s closing price Wednesday and 73% higher what shares traded at Friday, before rumors of a pending deal emerged. 

Both companies’ boards of directors have agreed to the acquisition, which they expect will close sometime around the middle of next year. 

The acquisition is the largest for a brain drug developer since Pfizer’s $11.6 billion takeover of Biohaven Pharmaceutical, and a sign of renewed interest from large pharmaceutical companies in neuroscience.

“This acquisition reinforces the renaissance we are seeing in neuroscience, and we are proud to be at the forefront,” said Ron Renaud, the former CEO of Translate Bio who was hired to run Cerevel this summer. Based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cerevel was built around a portfolio of psychiatric medicines spun out of Pfizer five years ago. 

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