Bausch Health Adds Late-Stage Ready Alcohol Liver Disease Drug Candidate In $63 Million DURECT Buyout

Bausch Health Companies Inc. (NYSE:BHC) on Tuesday agreed to indirectly acquire DURECT Corp (NASDAQ:DRRX), including a novel therapeutic molecule, larsucosterol.

Larsucosterol, an endogenous sulfated oxysterol and an epigenetic modulator, has demonstrated promising results for alcoholic hepatitis (AH) in Phase 2 trials.

Alcoholic hepatitis is a severe liver inflammation caused by excessive alcohol consumption. It is characterized by the rapid onset of jaundice and liver enlargement.

Bausch Health’s hepatology development and commercial capabilities are well-suited to support the clinical development and potential commercialization of larsucosterol.

The companies add that there is currently no Food and Drug Administration- or European Medicines Agency-approved treatment for AH.

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Bausch Health will pay $1.75 per share in an all-cash transaction for an upfront consideration of approximately $63 million, with the potential for two additional net sales milestone payments of up to $350 million.

A registrational Phase 3 program to evaluate the safety and efficacy of larsucosterol for the treatment of patients with severe AH is being planned.

The trial will be a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multi-center study. The primary endpoint will be 90-day survival.

The trial design will incorporate feedback received from the FDA during a Type B meeting under Breakthrough Therapy Designation and learnings from the prior Phase 2b AHFIRM trial in AH.

The acquisition of the clinical development program for larsucosterol in AH complements the ongoing Bausch Health RED-C clinical program, which is designed to assess the efficacy of a next-generation therapeutic, rifaximin SSD, to delay the onset of first overt hepatic encephalopathy (OHE) hospitalization and all-cause mortality.

Patient enrollment in two global Phase 3 studies is now complete with efficacy and safety results expected to be announced in early 2026.

The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2025.

Last year, Bausch Health was in talks with several private equity firms about selling Bausch + Lomb Corp (NYSE:BLCO).

The Bausch + Lomb spin-off was part of Bausch Health's plan to alleviate its $21 billion debt, a third of which is due by 2027.

BHC, DRRX Price Actions: Bausch Health stock is down 0.36% at $6.87, and DURECT stock is up 238.34% at $1.87 at publication on Tuesday.

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