Already a complicated story with mergers and name changes, in January 2023 it was announced that Albireo Pharma - a biotechnology company developing - therapeutic drugs for gastrointestinal diseases - had been acquired (for $952M in cash) by Ipsen - a global specialty-driven biopharmaceutical company focused on innovation and specialty care. Background to Albireo Pharma's operations and the SBIR connection: Connecticut based Biodel Inc. (NASDAQ:BIOD) had been a specialty biopharmaceutical company involved in SBIR and focused on the development and commercialization of innovative treatments for diabetes that may be safer, more effective and more convenient for patients. Biodels product candidates had been developed by applying proprietary technologies to existing drugs in order to improve their therapeutic profiles. The firm's lead product candidate was a glucagon emergency management (GEM) device designed to treat diabetes patients experiencing severe hypoglycemia, or very low concentrations of blood glucose. In 2008, Biodel underwent a reverse merger with a firm called Albireo Pharmaceutical - a gastrointestinal therapeutics business - that two years earlier (in 2006) had spun out of AStraZeneca. Concurrent with the reverse merger, Biodel changed its name to Albireo Pharma Inc. and the combined company - headed by original Albireo CEO and relocated to Boston MA - continued development of Albireo's pipeline of therapies for pediatric liver diseases and GI conditions.
