Neurocrine Is Making a $2.9 Billion Bet on a New Kind of Drug

The company is acquiring Soleno Therapeutics to add a newly approved Prader‑Willi syndrome treatment to its portfolio.

BY LEILA SHERIDAN, NEWS WRITER

Illustration: Inc; Photo: Getty Images

Neurocrine Biosciences is moving beyond its neuroscience roots, striking a $2.9 billion deal to acquire Soleno Therapeutics and push deeper into rare and metabolic diseases.

The San Diego-based biopharmaceutical company, founded in 1992, has long focused on treatments for neurological, endocrine, and psychiatric conditions. It is best known for Ingrezza (valbenazine), an FDA-approved drug for tardive dyskinesia, and has more recently expanded into rare endocrine disorders with therapies like Crenessity, according to The Wall Street Journal. Now, that strategy is accelerating.

Neurocrine agreed to acquire Soleno Therapeutics, a California-based biotech company focused on rare diseases, in a deal valued at $2.9 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal. At the center of the acquisition is Soleno’s drug VYKAT XR (diazoxide choline), which won FDA approval in March 2025 as the first treatment for hyperphagia—extreme, persistent hunger—associated with Prader-Willi syndrome.

Prader-Willi syndrome is a rare genetic disorder that drives an uncontrollable appetite and can lead to severe obesity and related complications. The condition affects an estimated 1 in 10,000 people in the United States and typically emerges in early childhood, according to Axios.

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Soleno launched VYKAT XR in the U.S. in the second quarter of 2025, generating $190 million in revenue that year, The Wall Street Journal reported. For a therapy targeting a relatively small patient population, that early performance highlights the strong pricing power and demand often associated with rare-disease drugs. These treatments can command premium prices and benefit from faster regulatory pathways, making them attractive acquisition targets for larger pharmaceutical companies seeking durable revenue streams, according to Evaluate Pharma.

The deal will be funded primarily with Neurocrine’s existing cash, though the company said it also plans to take on a “modest amount of pre-payable debt” to optimize its capital structure, according to The Wall Street Journal. The transaction is expected to close within 90 days.

Strategically, the acquisition gives Neurocrine its first commercial metabolic-disease therapy, a category that has quickly shifted from optional to essential across the pharmaceutical industry. Explosive demand for GLP-1 drugs like Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy and Eli Lilly’s Zepbound is largely driving that shift, transforming obesity and metabolic disease into one of the fastest-growing, and most competitive, markets in medicine, CNBC reported. 

Neurocrine’s move signals a broader repositioning from a neuroscience specialist to a more diversified player with exposure to high-growth therapeutic areas. What once may have been considered a “nice-to-have” expansion into metabolic disease may now be a strategic necessity.

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