Shares of CTI BioPharma (NASDAQ: CTIC) were up more than 80% early Wednesday after the company announced it was getting bought out for $1.7 billion by Swedish Orphan Biovitrum AB (OTC: BIOVF), also known as SOBI. CTI BioPharma specializes in targeted therapies for rare blood cancers. 

SOBI agreed to buy CTI for $9.10 a share, which is 89% above CTI's closing price on Tuesday and 95% higher than its 30-day average of $4.67. CTI's lead therapy is Vonjo (pacritinib), which is approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in February 2022 to treat adults with intermediate- or high-risk primary or secondary cytopenic myelofibrosis, a rare type of bone marrow cancer that leaves patients with a low platelet count. 

The move boosts SOBI's blood therapies. While there are only roughly 21,000 patients in the U.S. with myelofibrosis, pacritinib is also being studied in other indications, either as a monotherapy or a combination therapy, including as a COVID-19 treatment and to treat acute graft-versus-host disease. 

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Source Fool.com