Organon Continues Building Women’s Health Portfolio With Forendo Buyout

Merck & Co., Inc. spinout Organon is continuing its plan to build out a premier women’s health business via deal-making, announcing an $84m upfront acquisition of Forendo Pharma Oy and its investigational endometriosis drug during its Q3 earnings call on 11 November. The deal’s value hinges on the commercial success of the Finnish firm’s Phase II-ready FOR-6219, which could be the first long-term endometriosis therapy thanks to a better safety profile than existing drugs.

Organon will pay $75m up front for the privately held firm and also assume $9m of its debt. The deal is back-loaded for Forendo shareholders, who could realize up to $270m in development and regulatory milestones and up to $600m in commercial performance milestones. One analyst asked whether Organon was overpaying for a company whose lead asset only recently completed Phase I investigation