Microbot Medical Merges with StemCells
Microbot Medical Ltd., an Israel-based medical device company that specializes in the research, design, development and commercialization of micro-robotics-assisted medical technologies, has merged with StemCells Inc. (NASDAQ: STEM), a biotech firm that engages in the research, development, and commercialization of stem cell-based therapeutics for the treatment of central nervous system diseases. For StemCells, this merger is a strategic alternative to its failed Phase 2 clinical study of human neural stem cells in chronic spinal cord injuries. The combined company will pursue the development of robotics-based medical devices for the treatment of cerebrospinal fluid and gastrointestinal... Read More »Busy Day for Bacterial Infection Drugs
On August 23rd, two separate deals occurred involving licenses to drug candidates for the treatment of serious infections. Productos Científicos S.A. de C.V. (PC), a leading privately-held Mexican pharmaceutical company, purchased a license to Taigexyn® in Latin America from privately-held TaiGen Biotechnology Company Limited. Taigexyn® (nemonoxacin) is a novel antibiotic for the treatment of bacterial infections, including those caused by drug resistant bacteria, which has proven its efficacy in Phase I, II and III clinical studies. According to IMS Health, Latin-America’s pharmaceutical market is projected to grow 9-12% from 2016-2020, faster than the projected 3-6% in more developed... Read More »First Half of 2016 Shows Strength in M&A
Ever since the rally in health care mergers and acquisitions began in 2014, we’ve been waiting for the inevitable slam-on-the-brakes quarter. That rally was sparked by the advent of newly insured families and individuals entering the healthcare market, beginning on January 1, 2014. Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, passed in 2010, health care M&A topped 1,000 transactions that year and has never looked back. Isn’t it about time for the party to end? Not according to our data for the first six months of 2016, compared with the same period in 2014 and 2015. (But if you read our monthly M&A roundup on page 18, you may have second thoughts.) In the first half of 2016, deal volume... Read More »Pfizer Buys into Gene Therapy
Pfizer’s (NYSE: PFE) interest in the field of gene therapy just got real. The pharma giant just spent $193 million to pick up Bamboo Therapeutics Inc., a privately-held biotechnology company that focuses on therapies for rare and devastating central nervous system (CNS) and neuromuscular diseases. In the first quarter of 2016, Pfizer acquired 22% of Bamboo’s fully diluted equity for $43 million. On August 2, the company announced that it had acquired the remaining equity for an upfront payment of $150 million. Bamboo Therapeutics is also eligible to receive milestone payments of up to $495 million. Since 2014, Pfizer has established gene therapy-based collaborations, research and... Read More »Kite Pharma Soars with Two T-Cell Acquisitions
Kite Pharma Inc. (NASDAQ: KITE) has been busy lately, announcing two separate license deals in the last week of July. On July 25, it acquired the exclusive worldwide rights to technology that advances the development of off-the-shelf allogeneic T-cell therapies from renewable pluripotent stem cells, also known as the ATO system, in a deal with the University of California, Los Angeles. In connection with this agreement, Kite entered into a sponsored research agreement with UCLA to support ongoing preclinical research for the ATO system. Two days later, Kite entered into a license agreement with the National Institute of Health for the license to its fully human anti-CD19 chimeric antigen... Read More »Schedule a demo
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