Assorted pharmaceuticals. Photo: LadyofProcrastination via Flickr.

CTech – Ireland-headquartered Cosmo Pharmaceuticals is acquiring a 21.8 percent stake in Nasdaq and Tel Aviv-listed pharmaceutical company RedHill Biopharma, the latter announced in a stock exchange filing Friday. The deal will make Cosmo Redhill’s largest shareholder.

Under the agreement, Redhill will pay Cosmo the stock equivalent of $12 million, which comes up to 5.9 percent of Redhill’s shares, for exclusive commercialization rights in the US of Cosmo’s Aemcolo for Traveler’s Diarrhea. Redhill has agreed to pay Cosmo up to $100 million dependent on related milestones, as well as royalties. Cosmo will also pay Redhill $36.3 million for 15.9 percent of Redhill’s shares, pricing them at $7 per share, a 13.5 percent premium on the company’s price on Thursday’s close.

Founded in 2009, Tel Aviv-headquartered RedHill develops orally-administered medicine for gastrointestinal and inflammatory diseases. RedHill is traded at a market capitalization of around $180 million, as of market close Friday.