Cephalon, Inc. (Nasdaq: CEPH) and BioAssets Development Corporation (BDC), a privately held biopharmaceutical company, today announced that the companies have signed an agreement that will provide Cephalon with an option to acquire BDC. Under the terms of the option agreement, Cephalon will pay BDC an upfront payment of $30 million and, assuming exercise of the option, an additional payment on the closing of the acquisition. BDC stockholders could also receive additional future payments related to regulatory and sales milestones. The option agreement is subject to customary closing conditions including the receipt of necessary BDC stockholder approvals.
BDC is currently conducting a Phase two placebo-controlled proof of concept study with the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitor, etanercept, epidurally administered to a minimum of 40 patients with sciatica. Sciatica is a neuropathic inflammatory pain condition that occurs when the sciatic nerve is compressed, injured or irritated. BDC has secured an intellectual property estate around use of TNF inhibitors for sciatic pain in patients with intervertebral disk herniation, as well as other spinal disorders.
"BioAssets offers an estate of intellectual property and scientific expertise that will allow us to evaluate our own domain antibody tumor necrosis factor inhibitor, CEP-37247 (formerly known as ART-621), for the treatment of sciatica," said Frank Baldino, Jr., Ph.D. chairman and CEO of Cephalon. "Combining these two innovations helps fulfill our strategy to address unmet patient needs, while focusing on specialty physicians."