Mintz served as legal counsel to biotechnology company Viela Bio, Inc. (Viela Bio; Nasdaq: VIE) in its sale of all of the company’s issued and outstanding shares of common stock for $53 per share in cash to global biopharmaceutical company Horizon Therapeutics plc (Horizon; Nasdaq: HZNP), representing a fully diluted equity value of approximately $3.05 billion. The transaction was completed on March 15.

Headquartered in Gaithersburg, Maryland, Viela Bio is a biotechnology company dedicated to the discovery, development and commercialization of novel treatments for autoimmune and severe inflammatory diseases. Significantly, Mintz previously represented Viela Bio in its roughly $150 million initial public offering (IPO) of common stock in October 2019, and its $169 million public offering of common stock in June 2020. Prior to its IPO, Mintz also represented Viela Bio in its spin out from MedImmune, the global biologics research and development arm of AstraZeneca.

Through its acquisition of Viela Bio, Horizon adds to its commercial rare disease medicine portfolio, strengthen its current research and development capability, and expand its development pipeline.

The Mintz team that represented Viela Bio in this transaction was led by Mergers & Acquisitions Members Matthew J. Gardella and Matthew W. Tikonoff, and Corporate Member John T. Rudy, with the following other core team members: Corporate Associates Nishant M. Dharia, Peter N. Cunningham, and Cameron I. Hagen; Antitrust Member Robert G. Kidwell and Special Counsel Farrah Short; Intellectual Property Member Elizabeth Parsons; Employment, Labor & Benefits Member David Lagasse; Tax Member Scott J. Pinarchick; and Member and Co-chair of the Insurance Practice Nancy D. Adams.

Mintz’s Mergers & Acquisitions Practice includes an interdisciplinary group of more than 100 professionals from many areas of specialization, including corporate, tax, intellectual property, employee benefits, environmental, regulatory, real estate, antitrust, and others. The firm’s portfolio of successful deals includes transactions of virtually every size and type, from large public-to-public mergers to sales of private venture-backed businesses to negotiated and contested transactions and domestic, international, and cross-border transactions. 

Mintz is one of the leading law firms to the life sciences industry. The firm’s attorneys advise hundreds of businesses and other organizations across the sector’s ecosystem—from start-ups and emerging growth companies to large public companies as well as venture capital and private equity firms, investment banks, and research and academic institutions—on pivotal deals, mission-critical disputes, intellectual property, and regulatory matters. Learn more about Mintz’s Life Sciences Practice here.