Jazz Shifts Deal Focus to Rare Epilepsy With Actio Buy
The drugmaker agreed to pay $820 million upfront for Actio Biosciences.
Jazz Pharmaceuticals (JAZZ), a biopharmaceutical company focused on serious diseases, agreed to acquire Actio Biosciences, adding a clinical-stage rare-epilepsy treatment to its pipeline.
The transaction marked a shift from Jazz’s previous acquisition focus. Its purchase of Chimerix added dordaviprone for H3 K27M-mutant diffuse glioma, while Actio brings ABS-1230, a potential first-in-class KCNT1 inhibitor.
Jazz agreed to pay as much as $500 million in additional approval and sales milestones under the Actio deal. The company’s earlier acquisition of Chimerix, completed in April 2025, cost approximately $935 million entirely in cash.
ABS-1230 targets KCNT1-positive epilepsy, which affects roughly 2,500 patients in the U.S. An early proof-of-concept trial produced meaningful seizure reductions.
The ongoing Phase 1b/2a KYRON trial is designed to support a U.S. new-drug application.
Jazz expects the transaction to close by the fourth quarter of 2026 and plans to fund it with cash on hand and existing financing facilities.
Actio will retain ABS-0871 and its other assets in a separately funded private company, with Jazz receiving a minority stake. That structure gives Jazz control of the targeted epilepsy program, while the completed Chimerix transaction made the entire acquired company a Jazz subsidiary.