Cowen analyst Phil Nadeau raised the firm's price target on Acorda Therapeutics to $35 from $5 and keeps an Outperform rating on the shares after the company announced the sale of its manufacturing operations and a 16% headcount reduction. The sale and restructuring will net $70M in cash and yield $40M of annualized cost savings, "meaningfully increasing the likelihood" that the company can fund operations back to profitability, said Nadeau.
Catalent (CTLT) announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the manufacturing and packaging operations of Acorda Therapeutics (ACOR). The acquisition complements Catalent's status as a premier U.S.-based partner for companies across dry powder inhaled dose forms. Completion of the transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to occur in the first quarter of this calendar year. Under the terms of the agreement, Catalent will acquire Acorda Therapeutics' 90,000 square-foot, FDA-inspected CGMP facility in Chelsea, Massachusetts, close to Boston Logan International Airport and the thriving biotechnology networks centered around Boston and Cambridge. The site operates best-in-class spray drying capacity, including GEA NIRO PSD-1, PSD-4 and PSD-7 spray drying units, with the latter unit being the largest equipment of its kind in North America, and will provide Catalent with significant commercial-scale capacity for new customer programs. The facility will act as a global center of excellence within the Catalent network for spray-dried dispersion and dry powder encapsulation and packaging. On closing, Acorda Therapeutics' current workforce at the facility will transition employment to Catalent. Catalent has also entered into a long-term supply agreement with Acorda Therapeutics to continue commercial manufacture of INBRIJA from the Chelsea facility. INBRIJA is a prescription medicine from Acorda Therapeutics indicated for use when needed with hypomobility or OFF episodes in adults with Parkinson's disease treated with regular carbidopa/levodopa medicine. The Chelsea site will complement and provide downstream capabilities to Catalent's 180,000 square-foot inhalation development facility in Morrisville, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, which includes development and manufacturing for metered dose inhalers, nasal sprays, and dry powder inhalers. The Morrisville site offers high-speed commercial-scale manufacturing as well as flexible fill lines for clinical-scale and small batch production.
Accorda said earlier that it forecasts INBRIJA Q4 2020 net revenue of approximately $9M and full year 2020 net revenue of approximately $24M. Accorda sees AMPYRA ER Tablets, 10 mg net revenue for Q4 2020 of approximately $25M and FY20 net revenue of approximately $98M. The company continues to expect full year non-GAAP 2020 operating expense of $170M-$180M and sees 2020 year-end cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash were approximately $102M. Acorda expects that combined savings from the sale, restructuring and other operating cost reductions will reduce annual operating expenses by approximately $40M. The company provided new operating expense guidance of $130M-$140M for the full year 2021.
Acorda announced it entered into an At The Market Offering Agreement with H.C. Wainwright & Co. as sales agent. Pursuant to the ATM Agreement, the company may offer and sell shares of its common stock having an aggregate value of up to $15.25M in an at-the-market offering. The shares of common stock will be offered pursuant to the company's effective Registration Statement on Form S-3, which was declared effective by the Securities and Exchange Commission on September 17, 2020.
Acorda Therapeutics announced a corporate restructuring to reduce costs and focus its resources on INBRIJA. In addition to the associates who will transition to Catalent, Acorda is reducing its combined Ardsley, Waltham and field headcount by approximately 16% through a reduction in force. "Today's announcements represent important steps in our ongoing efforts to strengthen our capital structure, enhance our operating efficiency and position Acorda to drive long-term value for our shareholders," said Ron Cohen, M.D., Acorda's President and CEO. "Through the sale of the Chelsea operations we are monetizing our excess manufacturing capacity and significantly reducing expenses. This will ensure that our patients have uninterrupted access to INBRIJA, while meaningfully improving both our balance sheet and P&L. The restructuring is necessary for Acorda to have an infrastructure and expenses that are right-sized for our products and revenue. This is a difficult step for us all, not least for those who will no longer be employed at the company. We thank them for their dedication and contributions in bringing INBRIJA and AMPYRA to the patient communities we serve. We will be providing these colleagues with severance and assistance in seeking new positions," he added.
Acorda Therapeutics (ACOR) announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its Inbrija manufacturing operations in Chelsea, Massachusetts to Catalent (CTLT) for $80M in cash. In connection with the sale, Acorda and Catalent have entered into a long-term global supply agreement under which Catalent will manufacture and package Inbrija for Acorda, ensuring an uninterrupted drug supply for Acorda's patients and continued adherence to best-in-class manufacturing quality and safety standards. As part of the deal, Catalent will absorb all Acorda employees who work at the Chelsea facility, and certain Acorda employees at the Company's Waltham, Massachusetts facility.
Acorda Therapeutics announced that it has completed the previously announced 1-for-6 reverse stock split of its outstanding and authorized shares of common stock. The reverse stock split became effective at 4:01 p.m. Eastern Time today, and the company's common stock will begin trading on a split-adjusted basis at the market open on January 4, 2021. The reverse stock split was effected in accordance with the authorization adopted by Acorda's stockholders at the company's Special Meeting of Stockholders held on July 31, 2020. The reverse stock split is intended to enable the company to regain compliance with the $1.00 per share minimum bid price required for continued listing on The Nasdaq Global Select Market.
Athersys (ATHX) announced that it has appointed Katherine Kalin, Jane Wasman and Baiju Shah to its board of directors. The group of professionals will help lead the company as it prepares for potential commercialization of its investigational cell therapy, MultiStem. In addition, Dr. Lee Babiss, a committed director since 2010, has announced his retirement and has stepped down from the board. Kalin, most recently, she was a senior executive at Celgene Corporation, where she led corporate strategy from 2012 to 2017. Wasman served as President, International & General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of Acorda Therapeutics (ACOR), a publicly traded biopharmaceutical company, from 2012 to December 2019, managing its international, legal, quality, intellectual property and compliance functions, after serving in other executive roles at Acorda starting in 2004. Shah serves as a Senior Fellow for Innovation at the Cleveland Foundation and a Senior Advisor to FasterCures, a Center of the Milken Institute.