Histogenics announces acquisition of ProChon Biotech

Histogenics Corporation, a privately held regenerative medicine company, announced today that it has acquired ProChon Biotech, Ltd. in a stock-for-stock exchange.

Histogenics new management team will be led by President and CEO, Patrick O'Donnell, formerly CEO of ProChon Biotech, Ltd. Mr. O'Donnell will also participate as a member of the Board of Directors. The current investors provide for a strong investor syndicate that includes Altima Partners, Boston Millennia Partners, Foundation Medical Partners, and ProChon Holdings BV. Boston Equity Advisors, LLC served as the investment bank and was responsible for identifying and arranging the transaction.

"This acquisition positions the new Histogenics as a leading regenerative medicine company with products in the clinic, with solid intellectual property, and with experienced commercial and technical management. Merging these two companies will have a significant positive impact on the adoption of regenerative medicine, beginning with cartilage regeneration and extending to other applications in the near term," said Mr. O'Donnell. "We will leverage each company's distinctive capabilities to develop a broad regenerative medicine pipeline that will address surgical applications in orthopedics, vascular, and neurosurgery. We are excited and very enthusiastic about the results we have seen to date and the opportunities that lie ahead."

Presently the Company has very positive Phase II clinical data on its NeoCart^™ autologous cartilage regeneration technology and the pivotal clinical trial is presently underway. The Company also has promising clinical data on products that augment cartilage repair in microfracture procedures and has promising preclinical results in soft-tissue regeneration based on a combination of proprietary growth factor, stem cell, scaffold, and bioadhesive technologies. The initial focus of the Company will be to complete the NeoCart Phase III clinical study and expedite the process of bringing this exceptionally promising cartilage regeneration product to market in the United States, Europe, and Israel.

The sports medicine market is one of the fastest growing segments in the orthopaedic market and the cartilage repair/regeneration segment has long been seen as the next major opportunity in the industry. Surgeons and patients have long awaited technologies that would address the pain associated with cartilage defects, predominately in the knee, so as to avoid the more aggressive implantation of a metal prosthesis. Over 550,000 cartilage repair procedures on patients between the ages of 10 and 60 years of age will be performed in the United States.