(Bloomberg) -- Cycle Pharmaceuticals Ltd. is still interested in acquiring Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc. after one of Vanda’s drugs failed to receive regulatory approval, according to people familiar with the matter.

The $488 million offer has been reaffirmed by Cycle even though Vanda’s stock has fallen 29% since June, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information was private. While Cycle is sticking by its $8-a-share bid, Vanda’s board has declined to discuss the proposal and has instead imposed new rules aimed at thwarting it, the people said. 

A representative for Vanda didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment, while a spokesperson for Cycle declined to comment. 

In June, Cycle confirmed an earlier Bloomberg News report that it was offering to buy Vanda. At the time, Vanda responded that it had received an “unsolicited, non-binding indication of interest” that it would review. 

Vanda’s shares closed at $4.44 on Friday in New York trading, giving the company a market value of about $259 million.

Based in Washington and with offices in London and Berlin, Vanda owns the commercial rights to three drugs treating conditions including a rare sleep disorder, schizophrenia and relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis. Vanda failed to secure approval from the US Food and Drug Administration for tradipitant, aimed at treating symptoms in gastroparesis, the company said in a statement last month.

Cycle, based in Cambridge in the UK, was founded in 2012 and has six drugs on the market that treat rare metabolic and immunological conditions, as well as multiple sclerosis.

--With assistance from Deirdre Hipwell.

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