By Colin Kellaher


American depositary shares of Orchard Therapeutics took flight in premarket trading Thursday after the gene-therapy company agreed to be acquired by Japan's Kyowa Kirin at a rich premium.

Kyowa Kirin said it would pay an initial $387.4 million, or $16 per ADS, in cash for Orchard, nearly double Wednesday's closing price of $8.14 for the London-based company.

Contingent value rights tied to U.S. approval of Orchard's OTL-200 for the treatment of metachromatic leukodystrophy could add another $1 per ADS, bringing the total value of the deal to $477.6 million, or $17 an ADS.

The transaction is slated to close in the first quarter of 2024.

Orchard ADSs were recently up 95% to $15.88 in premarket trading.


Write to Colin Kellaher at colin.kellaher@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

10-05-23 0614ET