Astellas Pharma, which operates as a pharmaceutical company, is set to acquire Audentes Therapeutics, a biotechnology company for c. $3bn. The offer price represents a premium of 110%. “Recent scientific and technological advances in genetic medicine have advanced the potential to deliver unprecedented and sustained value to patients, and even to curing diseases with a single intervention. Audentes has developed a robust pipeline of promising product candidates which are complementary to our existing pipeline, including its lead program AT132 for the treatment of X-Linked Myotubular Myopathy. By joining together with Audentes’ talented team, we are establishing a leading position in the field of gene therapy with the goal of addressing the unmet needs of patients living with serious, rare diseases,” Kenji Yasukawa, Astellas President and CEO.