Jazz pays $820M to buy Actio, adding clinical-stage asset to orchestra of epilepsy therapies

Biotech Jazz pays $820M to buy Actio, adding clinical-stage asset to orchestra of epilepsy therapies By Will Maddox Aug 10, 2026 10:40am Jazz Pharmaceuticals Actio Biosciences M&A epilepsy Jazz Pharmaceuticals is adding to its orchestra of epilepsy treatments with the acquisition of Actio Biosciences for $820 million upfront. The prize for Jazz is Actio’s lead asset, dubbed ABS-1230, a small-molecule precision therapy targeting the KCNT1 ion channel. ABS-1230 has already demonstrated “meaningful seizure reductions” in an early clinical proof-of-concept trial in children with KCNT1+ epilepsy, Jazz explained in an August 10 release.

There are currently no FDA-approved drugs for KCNT1+ epilepsy, a rare genetic developmental and epileptic encephalopathy (DEE) impacting 2,500 people in the U.S., Jazz pointed out. These patients experience profound seizures, with most suffering from dozens to hundreds of highly medication-resistant episodes each day. For 80% of KCNT1+ patients, the disease arrives in infancy and prevents fundamental developmental milestones like walking and speaking, with some not surviving to adulthood, the company added.

For those who develop the condition later in life, it manifests as nocturnal seizures that are accompanied by cognitive and psychiatric comorbidities. Having proved its worth in the initial clinical study, San Diego-based Actio has since launched a phase 1b/2a trial of ABS-1230 that could eventually support a push for FDA approval. Today's deal—which could see Jazz pay out a further $500 million in approval and sales milestones—seems like a good fit for the Irish company, which moved beyond sleep disorders and cancer into the epilepsy space in 2021 with the $7.2 billion acquisition of cannabinoid maker GW Pharma.

That deal included the approved epilepsy treatment Epidiolex, which brought in $292 million in revenue in the second quarter of this year. Dublin-based Jazz is evaluating Epidiolex in a phase 3 study for DEE, among other indications, and bolstered its epilepsy suite last year with a $42.5 million upfront deal with Saniona for a preclinical selective small-molecule activator of Kv7.2/Kv7.3 potassium channels aimed at patients with partial-onset seizures. Jazz's pipeline also lists a phase 1-stage drug for absence epilepsy and other undisclosed epilepsy indications.

Jazz CEO Renee Gala described ABS-1230's clinical profile as “highly encouraging.” “We look forward to closing the proposed transaction and collaborating with our new Actio Biosciences colleagues to address an urgent patient need,” Gala added. With Jazz's eyes firmly on ABS-1230, the acquisition would also involve Actio spinning out a privately held entity made up of some of Actio's management, employees and assets that aren't relevant to ABS-1230. Jazz will receive a minority stake and certain related rights to the spinout, which will be focused on rare genetic neurological diseases and will be funded by existing investors.

The spinout will own a clinical-stage small-molecule TRPV4 inhibitor, dubbed ABS-0871, for Charcot-Marie-Tooth type 2C and other early-stage programs. “We chose to partner with Jazz because they combine a purpose-led culture with a world-class development engine and the commercial scale to ensure ABS-1230 is brought to patients as quickly and efficiently as possible,” Actio CEO David Goldstein, Ph.D., said in the release. Jazz Pharmaceuticals Actio Biosciences M&A epilepsy CNS Deals Biotech