BTG agrees to acquire PneumRx for $475 million

PneumRx, Inc. (www.pneumrx.com), a leader in the field of interventional pulmonology, today announced that it has signed an agreement to be acquired by BTG Plc (LSE:BTG) in a deal worth up to $475 million, based on an initial consideration of $230 million and up to $245 million in performance-related milestone payments. Based in London, BTG is an international specialist healthcare company that is active in interventional medicine and specialty pharmaceuticals. Their current interventional portfolio includes site specific treatments for severe blood clots including pulmonary embolisms, liver tumors, and varicose veins. These therapies are differentiated, minimally invasive, and marketed to specialist physician groups.

PneumRx's flagship product, the RePneu Coil, is slated to become the cornerstone of BTG's growing interventional pulmonology business. The Coil is a minimally invasive device intended to improve exercise capacity, lung function, and quality of life for patients with severe emphysema. The implants are designed to compress diseased tissue, increase elastic recoil in the lung, and re-tension the diseased airway network, relieving breathlessness and allowing patients to perform more activities of daily living.

The RePneu Coil has a CE Mark and has been used in Europe for the treatment of emphysema since 2008. The 315-subject multicenter RENEW pivotal clinical trial completed enrollment in early October, 2014 and the company intends to submit the one-year data to FDA in late 2015 for PMA approval. The merger with BTG will bring additional resources as PneumRx seeks US market approval for the RePneu Coil and develops other key markets worldwide

"All of us at PneumRx are most pleased to join the BTG family and we look forward to joining forces to advance the standard of care in emphysema treatment," said Erin McGurk, Founder, President and CEO of PneumRx. "Not only does BTG recognize the valuable business opportunity in PneumRx but they also value the PneumRx culture and our employees who have worked tirelessly for the past 10 years to bring us to where we are today. Our business will continue to operate intact, but we will benefit immediately from the support of an experienced and successful BTG framework. The future is bright for PneumRx moving forward as a BTG company, as we work together with dedicated physicians around the world who are using the Coils to bring hope to the millions of emphysema patients who have had so few treatment options to date."