Cerulean Pharma Inc. (NASDAQ:CERU), a clinical-stage company that develops nanoparticle-drug conjugates (NDCs), sold off its lead assets and is transitioning its focus from oncology to women’s health.
The company announced on February 1, 2017 that it had hired investment bank Aquilo Partners, L.P., as its financial advisor to assist in a comprehensive review of strategic alternatives to maximize stockholder value. Then, on March 20, 2017, it announced that it had entered a stock purchase agreement with privately-held Daré Bioscience, in which Daré will own between 51% and 70% of the combined company. Daré Bioscience is a California-based, clinical-stage pharmaceutical company that develops and commercializes products for women’s reproductive health.
The transaction will result in a NASDAQ-listed company focused on the development and commercialization of products for women’s reproductive health and will operate under the name Daré Bioscience.
On that same day, Cerulean Pharma also announced it entered two asset-purchase agreements. BlueLink Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of NewLink Genetics Corporation (NASDAQ: NLNK), is purchasing Cerulean’s lead product candidates, CRLX101 and CRLX301, for $1.5 million. CRLX101 is a tumor targeted nanoparticle-drug conjugate (NDC) in Phase 2 clinical development, and CRLX301 is a platform-generated NDC clinical candidate, which is in Phase 1/2a clinical trials.
Novartis AG (NYSE: NVS), which is already an existing collaborator of Cerulean, is purchasing Cerulean’s Dynamic Tumor Targeting™ platform for $6 million. The platform creates NDCs that are designed to provide safer and more effective cancer treatments.
In January of 2015, Cerulean entered into a loan and security agreement with Hercules Technology Growth Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) for a term loan of up to $26.0 million and completed a private placement for $1.0 million of Cerulean common stock with Hercules. Cerulean announced that, in connection with this transaction, it is paying off its debt facility with Hercules Capital, Inc. and is reducing its workforce by approximately 58%.