Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire NuPathe Inc. for approximately $144 million in cash. NuPathe shareholders may also receive additional payments if sales milestones are met for NuPathe’s migraine treatment, ZECUITY. The transaction is expected to close in February 2014.
 
Teva expands its central nervous system (CNS) portfolio with ZECUITY, the first prescription migraine patch approved by the FDA for the acute treatment of migraine in adults. ZECUITY is a disposable, single-use, iontophoretic transdermal patch that actively delivers sumatriptan, a widely prescribed migraine medication. Teva also gains access to NuPathe’s technology, including its transdermal delivery system.
 
“We believe that ZECUITY is a great fit within our existing U.S. CNS Business Unit, with near-term sales and significant commercial potential,” said Mike Derkacz, vice president and general manager, Teva CNS. “ZECUITY enables rapid transdermal delivery of sumatriptan and bypasses the GI tract to avoid issues with oral intake, addressing an important, unmet patient need, especially for those with migraine-related nausea. At Teva, we will leverage our unique Shared Solutions infrastructure to support patient utilization of this important new medicine for migraine sufferers.”
 
Additionally, NuPathe has terminated its previous merger agreement with Endo, and as a result, Endo received a $5 million termination fee from NuPathe.   
 
“We believe that the agreement NuPathe has signed with Teva is positive news for NuPathe stockholders and as a result we accepted the termination fee and are now proceeding to withdraw our tender offer,” said Rajiv De Silva, president and chief executive officer of Endo. “We believe our offer represented fair value for NuPathe. We will remain disciplined in our approach to M&A and will look to deploy capital on other opportunities to create value for our shareholders.”