Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) is set to acquire Alpine Immune Sciences (APLN) for $4.9 billion in cash, gaining access to Alpine's treatments for kidney disease. The deal from Vertex values Alpine's stock at $65 a share, which is a nearly 67% premium from the stock's close on Tuesday.

Yahoo Finance Anchors Josh Lipton and Julie Hyman discuss the trend of "pipeline in a product" deals.

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This post was written by Nicholas Jacobino

Video Transcript

JULIE HYMAN: As Vertex Pharmaceuticals enters into a definitive agreement to acquire Alpine Immune Sciences. Now this is a deal that has a total equity value about $4.9 billion. It is Vertex's largest buy ever, and it's interesting that it shares as the acquirer, or moving higher. $65 a share is what it's paying, which is 67% higher than Alpine's close on Tuesday. So this is quite a premium that the company is paying.

JOSH LIPTON: Yeah. And for me, it was interesting. I saw the team over at William Blair being quoted as saying, you know, the product could have applications beyond this specific kidney disease. And so they were saying, yeah, they were arguing with their clients and potentially becoming a multi-billion dollar product. Also, Bloomberg, I thought this was when you point out. This is part of this broader trend that we're kind of seeing in this sector they said of just big drug makers kind of increasingly interested in those smaller biotech players that are working on specifically kidney therapies.

JULIE HYMAN: Yeah. And RBC's Gregory Renza had an interesting phrase for this pipeline in a product deals. In other words, acquiring a single product that could have potentially multiple applications. And so you're not just buying one drug. You're buying one drug that could potentially have multiple uses. One other quick note here. Vera Therapeutics, or Vera Therapeutics, is also developing drugs to treat an autoimmune disease that affects the liver, and its shares were also higher today. You tend to see that sort of halo effect when you get a deal like this.