Daily Brief Health Care: Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, Osstem Implant, Obi Pharma Inc, EMIS Group PLC and more

• Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (SUNP IN) is acquiring the U.S.-based late-stage biotechnology company, Concert Pharmaceuticals (CNCE US) for $576M in equity value. The transaction is expected to be completed in 1Q23.
• Concert has completed the evaluation of the efficacy and safety of its lead candidate, deuruxolitinib in adult patients with moderate to severe Alopecia Areata in its phase 3 clinical program.
• With the disease affecting up to ~1.5M people in the U.S., Alopecia represents potential blockbuster opportunity. Sun Pharma plans to file NDA for deuruxolitinib to the FDA in 1H23.

• On 20 January, KCGI private equity fund formally started its corporate governance activist campaign on Osstem Implant (048260 KS).
• KCGI officially going activist on the company, its strong fundamentals and deep discount valuations suggest that Osstem Implant’s price is likely to outperform KOSPI by a wide margin in 2023.
• KCGI has demanded Kyoo-Ok Choi (Chairman of Osstem Implant) to resign.

• Obi Pharma Inc (4174 TT) is developing novel therapeutic agents for unmet medical needs against cancers. The company’s lead pipeline candidate, adagloxad simolenin is a first-in-class cancer vaccine candidate.
• Currently, adagloxad simolenin is in phase 3 study as an adjuvant treatment of high-risk, early-stage, Globo H-positive triple negative breast cancer, which represents 15–20% of breast cancer cases.
• The company has a cash runway through 2024, while phase 3 trial is expected to be completed in 2025. With the pipeline progress, operating expenses are expected to increase.

EMIS Group’s year-end update confirms that FY22 revenue and adjusted operating profit were in line with the board’s expectations and it closed the year with net cash of £45.9m. The company also confirmed that a merger notice has been filed with the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) regarding its takeover by UnitedHealth. The CMA’s Phase One investigation period commences on 23 January and EMIS expects the acquisition to complete in late Q123 or early Q223.