Press Release
March 6, 2017

Concert Pharmaceuticals Sells Cystic Fibrosis Treatment to Vertex Pharmaceuticals for up to $250 Million

The Technology + Life Sciences team represented Concert Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: CNCE) in its definitive agreement to sell its cystic fibrosis assets, CTP-656, to Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: VRTX) for $160 million in cash for all worldwide development and commercialization rights. If CTP-656 is approved as part of a combination regimen to treat cystic fibrosis, Concert could receive up to an additional $90 million in milestones based on regulatory approval in the U.S. and reimbursement in the UK, Germany or France. The agreement is subject to approval by Concert's shareholders and the expiration of the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act. Concert’s stock traded up over 70% on the news.

CTP-656 is an investigational cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) potentiator that has the potential to be used as part of future once-daily combination regimens of CFTR modulators that treat the underlying cause of cystic fibrosis.

Concert Pharmaceuticals is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on applying its DCE Platform® (deuterated chemical entity platform) to create novel medicines designed to address unmet patient needs. Concert has a broad pipeline of innovative medicines targeting pulmonary diseases, including cystic fibrosis, autoimmune and inflammatory diseases and central nervous systems (CNS) disorders. Following the closing, Concert will continue its development of medicines that are unrelated to cystic fibrosis.

The Goodwin team was led by partners John Mutkoski and Andrew Goodman and included partners Deborah Birnbach and Janet Andolina, counsel Kirby Lewis, and Michael Brodowski, and associate Robert Dzialo.