The Incannex Healthcare Ltd (ASX: IHL) share price is on the move today following a company’s latest acquisition.
At the time of writing, the healthcare company’s shares are trading at 43 cents, up 17.81%.
Incannex progresses on APIRx takeover
According to its release, Incannex announced it has entered into a share sale and purchase agreement to acquire APIRx Pharmaceuticals.
Based in the United States, APIRx is a leading pharmaceutical company specialising in cannabinoid active pharmaceutical ingredients and drug products.
The acquisition will be made by an all-scrip transaction of 218 million Incannex shares at a value of $0.573 per share.
This requires Incannex’s shareholders to approve the issue of the new shares to the sellers under ASX Listing Rule 7.1.
A shareholder vote will be held at the extraordinary general meeting in June 2022.
If green-lit, the shares will be issued at the completion of the acquisition and thus APIRx will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company.
Incannex noted that the acquisition of APIRx delivers a strong portfolio of patented drug candidates. This includes 22 development programs covering a total addressable market of US$400 billion per annum.
Together, Incannex and APIRx will form the world’s largest portfolio of patented medicinal cannabinoid drug formulations and psychedelic treatment protocols.
The takeover is expected to be seamless, as APIRx’s assets are similar to Incannex’s operational capabilities and pharmaceutical development strategy.
Incannex CEO and managing director, Joel Latham commented:
The acquisition of APIRx presents us with clear long and short-term opportunities for significant value growth. Several drug candidates have shortened regulatory pathways to break into areas of patient need representing very large global markets. These candidates are our initial development priority.
Incannex’s strong cash position allows us to pursue these near-term product opportunities at the same time as moving at pace to develop the Incannex combination drug candidates. Once the acquisition of APIRx has been finalised, Incannex will have many diverse projects under development, the progress over which we will update the stock exchanges with ongoingly.
Incannex share price snapshot
Over the past 12 months, the Incannex share price has surged close to 60%.
While investor optimism took hold late last year, this hasn’t been the case in 2022 with losses sitting around 31%.
The company’s shares reached a multi-year high of 75.5 cents in early March, before giving up their astonishing gains.
On valuation grounds, Incannex presides a market capitalisation of around $549.97 million.
