Kyowa Kirin to acquire Orchard Therapeutics, maker of gene therapy Libmeldy

LONDON — The Japanese firm Kyowa Kirin is acquiring gene therapy maker Orchard Therapeutics in a $400 million deal, the companies said Thursday.

Kyowa Kirin is paying $16 per share — a nearly 100% premium on Orchard’s Wednesday closing price — in cash, amounting to roughly $390 million. Orchard shareholders stand to earn another $90 million if Orchard’s gene therapy, Libmeldy, wins U.S. approval. The transaction is expected to close early next year.

Orchard, which has operations in London and Boston, has been one of the more successful companies at getting a gene therapy covered in European countries. The medicines, which deliver functional genes to patients to overcome their genetic diseases, are one-time treatments that can have profound effects for patients but that typically carry seven-figure price tags, leading to so far slow rollouts.

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