Bristol Myers expects to gain 'multi-billion asset' in acquiring MyoKardia for $13 billion

Bristol Myers Squibb Co would buy MyoKardia Inc for about $13 billion to bolster its portfolio of heart disease treatments and shield itself from competition posed by Merck & Co’s Keytruda on its for its cancer immunotherapy, Opdivo.

The deal gives Bristol Myers, which acquired pharmaceutical company Celgene last year for $74 billion, access to Myokardia’s lead heart drug candidate with blockbuster potential, mavacamten.

According to David Nierengarten, a Wedbush analyst, mavacamten is expected to be a “multi-billion dollar asset” as sales estimates for the treatment of obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is expected to reach about $2.5 billion by 2026.

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is estimated to affect one in every 500 people globally.

MyoKardia expects to submit a marketing application to the US health regulator for mavacamten as an obstructive HCM treatment in the first quarter of 2021.

Bristol Myers' portfolio of heart drugs includes blood thinner Eliquis, which made up about 21 percent of the company’s total sales in its latest reported quarter.