Albireo acquisition ‘good news’ for Mirum Pharmaceuticals, says Piper Sandler

After Albireo (ALBO) announced an agreement to be acquired by Ipsen (IPSEY) at a price of $42.00 per share in cash for an initial estimated aggregate consideration of $952M plus one contingent value right, or CVR, worth $10.00 per CVR payable upon the FDA approval of Bylvay in the Biliary Atresia indication, Piper Sandler analyst Yasmeen Rahimi said this is "good news" for Mirum Pharmaceuticals (MIRM), a direct competitor in the pediatric liver disease space. The deal highlights the interest around the ileal bile acid transport inhibitor, or IBATi, mechanism and "bodes well" for Mirum, which has an already validated track record of successful IBATis, according to Rahimi. The analyst, who expects to see share gains for Mirum and "further interest from pharma in its valuable pipeline," keeps an Overweight rating and $77 price target on Mirum shares.