Pharmaceutical Technology

Collegium buys Ironshore for $525m and enter ADHD market

Collegium will pay $525m upfront to add Ironshore’s FDA-approved ADHD medication Jornay to its portfolio.

Collegium Pharmaceuticals has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Ironshore Therapeutics in a bid to expand its portfolio beyond pain management.

Collegium will pay $525m in cash to acquire outstanding shares of Ironshore. Following the transaction, Collegium will gain Ironshore’s US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved therapy, Jornay PM (methylphenidate hydrochloride), for treating attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in patients aged six years and older.

The company will also pay an additional $25m if the sales of Jornay PM exceed Collegium’s defined revenue expectations in 2025. The deal is expected to close in Q3 this year. Concurrent with the acquisition, Collegium also secured $646m as part of a five-year loan from Pharmakon Advisors, which, along with Collegium’s cash reserves, will fund the Ironshore acquisition.

“The Ironshore acquisition is a unique opportunity to deliver a transaction that is immediately accretive to Collegium while meeting all of our strategic objectives through the addition of a growing commercial asset that diversifies our portfolio, has significant revenue potential and exclusivity into the 2030s,” said Michael Heffernan, chairman and interim president and chief executive officer of Collegium.

Whilst there is a significant unmet need for new ADHD therapeutics, simulant treatments like Jornay PM face significant disadvantages due to their abuse potential and their prescribed use being limited to 30 days.

The current market leader in the ADHD space is Takeda with two FDA-approved treatments, Vyvanse (lisdexamfetamine dimesylate) and Intuniv (guanfacine hydrochloride). However, the overall market for ADHD therapeutics across seven major markets (US, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, UK, and Japan) is expected to decline to $10.9bn by 2032 from $11.9bn in 2022, as per GlobalData analysis. This is mainly driven by the launch and uptake of generics.

GlobalData is the parent company of Pharmaceutical Technology.

Late-stage ADHD therapies in development include Otsuka Pharmaceuticals’ non-stimulant therapy centanafadine and Cingulate’s CTx-1301 (dexmethylphenidate), a once-daily stimulant therapy. In October 2023, Otsuka reported positive data from two Phase III trials showing centanafadine’s efficacy in treating ADHD in adolescents and children.