There's been a struggle to buy small pharma maker Assertio. Shares soared

Quotes of Assertio Holdings, a micro-cap maker of oncology and neurology drugs, soared 17% on May 4, to the highest since October 2023. The company reported: Garda Therapeutics agreed to pay 21% more for it than it had planned just a month ago. The reason is that Assertio received a more favorable acquisition offer, it explains.

Shares of Assertio, whose market capitalization on the Nasdaq is just $139.5 million, rose 17% to $21.6 apiece on May 4. That's the highest since the end of October 2023.

Investors reacted to the micro-cap drugmaker's news that pharma company Garda Therapeutics had increased its offer to buy it by 21%, to $21.8 a share. Under the original April 2026 agreement, it was offering $18 per share.

Garda has revised its offer to buy Assertio after the micro-cap company received a more favorable offer, according to a press release. Garda Therapeutics' new bid also includes increased and fully secured equity and debt financing commitments, Assertio wrote.

After reviewing all documents, the board of directors of the micro-cap drug maker concluded that Garda's increased offer represented the most favorable outcome for Assertio shareholders.

The parties plan to close the deal in the second quarter of 2026. For this purpose, Garda will purchase Assertio's shares for $21.8 per share during the tender offer. Then it will buy the remaining securities at the same price. After that, the company's micro-cap shares will no longer be traded on the stock exchange.

Assertio develops and markets therapies for neurological, cancer, inflammation, and pain management. The company reported a 3% drop in net revenue to $117.1 million for 2025, due to a drop in revenue from sales of its anti-inflammatory drug Indocin due to competition from cheaper analogs, according to a press release. A little later, Assertio said it sold the rights to that drug and several others to Cosette for $35 million, as required by its agreement with Garda.

Since the beginning of the year, Assertio quotes have soared more than 138%.

Following the initial agreement with Garda in April, at least two Wall Street analysts have downgraded their recommendation on the company's securities from "buy" to "hold." Their position is shared by another analyst, MarketWatch data show. Also shares of Assertio have one "buy" recommendation from analysts. The average target price of the company's securities is $22.6, which is below the offer from Garda.