STOCKHOLM, Dec. 15, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Swedish Orphan Biovitrum AB (STO: SOBI) recently announced that it has entered into an acquisition agreement with Arthrosi Therapeutics, Inc., which was invested in and incubated by Viva Biotech Holdings. Under the terms of the agreement, Sobi will pay up to US$1.5 billion in total transaction value, including an upfront payment at closing of US$950 million, subject to customary adjustments, and contingent consideration of up to US$550 million. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2026.

Viva Biotech expects that the Merger will result in an aggregate gain of approximately US$40.0 million. The exact amount will depend on the fulfilment of regulatory and performance milestones. In addition, Arthrosi has also entered into new statement of work (SOW) with the Viva Biotech's CDMO business unit (Langhua Pharmaceutical) for the supply of active pharmaceutical ingredient, and the Group expects to continue its business cooperation with Arthrosi.

Arthrosi Therapeutics, Inc., a late-stage biotechnology company developing a potentially best-in-class, highly potent and selective next generation URAT1 inhibitor to reduce serum urate (sUA) levels, flares, and dissolve tophi in gout and tophaceous gout patients. The acquisition strengthens Sobi's gout franchise by adding pozdeutinurad (AR882), an investigational next-generation, once-daily oral URAT1 inhibitor currently being evaluated in two fully recruited global Phase 3 clinical studies for the potential management of progressive and tophaceous gout and expected to read out in 2026. Pozdeutinurad complements Sobi's pipeline by adding a potentially best-in-class URAT1 inhibitor for patients sub-optimally treated with first-line therapies. Today's announcement reflects Sobi's commitment to advancing treatment options for people living with gout.

"The acquisition of Arthrosi allows us to expand our gout pipeline with a highly differentiated new asset", said Guido Oelkers, President and CEO of Sobi. "Pozdeutinurad has the potential to become the therapy of choice for patients who have progressive gout with persistent and unresolved symptoms despite first-line therapy. The product has the potential to materially accelerate our growth until the mid 2030s, and beyond. We welcome all members of the talented Arthrosi team and are looking forward to working closely together to be able to offer this therapy to patients as soon as possible."

"We are thrilled to join forces with Sobi and look forward to working together to ensure a seamless transition as they advance pozdeutinurad towards pivotal data and potential regulatory filings. We believe that Sobi's global expertise in commercialization will accelerate our shared mission to deliver pozdeutinurad's potentially transformative benefits for individuals living with gout", stated Litain Yeh, Ph.D., Founder and CEO of Arthrosi Therapeutics.

Dr. Han Dai, Chief Innovation Officer and Head of Viva BioInnovator commented "We are very pleased to see Arthrosi reach this milestone with the acquisition by Sobi. Viva Biotech started to participated in Arthrosi from the seed round onward and remained a long-term investors across multiple subsequent rounds. As an industrial partner, Viva Biotech has also maintained long-term and in-depth collaboration with the team in areas across R&D, manufacturing, and global industry resource integration. We have witnessed Arthrosi's continued focus on solving the unmet medical need of gout, marked by clear and disciplined scientific and clinical decision-making. This acquisition fully reflects the dual realization of industrial and clinical value, further validating the feasibility of Viva Biotech's investment and industry empowerment model in the global innovative drug sector. We sincerely congratulate Arthrosi and Sobi on their collaboration, and extend sincere congratulations to the two founders of Arthrosi — Dr. Litain Yeh and Dr. Shunqi Yan. We look forward to the continued long-term value creation of this project within a larger industrial platform. And we also thank ApicHope and all shareholders for their continued support and trust throughout the company's journey."

About Arthrosi

Arthrosi Therapeutics, Inc., headquartered in San Diego, CA, is focused on developing pozdeutinurad, a potentially best-in-class, highly potent and selective next generation URAT1 inhibitor to reduce serum urate levels, flares and tophi in patients with progressive gout. The rights to pozdeutinurad in Greater China are held by ApicHope.

About Sobi

Sobi is a global biopharma company unlocking the potential of breakthrough innovations, transforming everyday life for people living with rare diseases. Sobi has approximately 1,900 employees across Europe, North America, the Middle East, Asia and Australia. In 2024, revenue amounted to SEK 26 billion.

About Viva Biotech

Established in 2008, Viva Biotech (01873.HK) provides one-stop services ranging from early-stage Structure-Based Drug R&D to commercial manufacturing to global biopharmaceutical innovators. We offer leading early-stage to late-phase drug discovery expertise by integrating our dedicated team of experts, cutting-edge technology platforms, and state-of-the-art equipment in X-ray crystallization, Cryo-EM, DEL, ASMS, SPR, HDX, AIDD/CADD, and much more. Our business covers all aspects of therapeutic strategies and drug modalities, including small molecules and biologics across the pharma and biotech spectrum. The experienced chemistry team, led by senior medicinal chemists and drug discovery biologists, provides services for drug design, medicinal chemistry (hit to lead and lead optimization), custom synthesis, chemical analysis and purification, kilogram scale-up, peptide synthesis and corresponding bioassays. With our subsidiary, Langhua Pharma, we offer our worldwide pharmaceutical and biotech partners a one-stop integrated CMC (Chemical, Manufacturing, and Control) service from preclinical to commercial manufacturing. Additionally, Viva embedded an equity for service (EFS) model to high potential startups to address unmet medical needs.

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SOURCE Viva Biotech