Lantheus to acquire radiopharma firm Evergreen Theragnostics for up to $1B
Lantheus has reached an agreement to acquire radiopharmaceutical firm Evergreen Theragnostics for up to $1 billion, the two announced Tuesday.
Founded in 2019 and headquartered in Springfield, New Jersey, Evergreen develops and manufactures imaging agents aimed at diagnosing and treating cancer. Its portfolio includes Octevy, a yet-to-be-approved PET (positron emission tomography) product targeting neuroendocrine tumors.
Lantheus believes the imaging agent will complement its therapeutic PNT2003, a generic version of radioactive drug Lutathera used to treat such cancers. The Bedford, Massachusetts-based buyer believes this addition will solidify its status as a “fully integrated radiopharmaceutical company” able to discover, develop and manufacture these burgeoning drugs.
"As Lantheus continues to advance its industry leadership, this transaction—along with the [$750 million] agreement to acquire Life Molecular Imaging—enhances our operations across the radiopharmaceutical value chain," Brian Markison, CEO of Lantheus, said in a statement. "With Evergreen's manufacturing and development capabilities, we become fully integrated and will ultimately make a difference in the lives of more patients.”
Lantheus will pay $250 million in cash at closing to acquire Evergreen. It will issue up to $752.5 million more for hitting certain sales and development milestones tied to Octevy and Evergreen’s other in-development drug candidates. Boards of both companies have already approved the sale, which is expected to close in 2025’s second half, subject to regulatory approval.
The companies on Tuesday further fleshed out their rational for pursuing the deal. Lantheus will add Evergreen’s radiogland therapy manufacturing infrastructure, including its “revenue generating” contract development and manufacturing organization. Adding in-house radiopharma development expertise allows Lantheus to supply its clinical trials, scale manufacturing and commercial launches and “mitigate third-party risk.” Evergreen Theragnostics brings with it an integrated drug discovery and development platform, “promising” oncology assets, and a “highly skilled team.”
Former Siemens Healthineers engineer and VP of PETNET Global Business development James Cook, MBA, founded the company five years ago alongside Memorial Sloan Kettering radiopharmacist Serge Lyashchenko, PharmD.
“Lantheus' industry expertise and financial strength will help us bring our innovations to a broad patient population faster and support our mission to improve options for cancer patients through theranostic radiopharmaceuticals,” Evergreen CEO Cook said in a statement.
One of the largest radiopharma firms in the world, Lantheus also sells Pylarify. The product is a targeted PET agent for pinpointing suspected metastasis or recurrence of prostate cancer, which saw sales north of $1 billion in 2024.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.