European biotechs BioAlliance Pharma and Topotarget have signed up to join forces, plotting to merge under the former's name and combine their pipelines of late-stage oncology drugs.
Under the deal, expected to close this summer, France's BioAlliance will absorb the Copenhagen-headquartered Topotarget and give its investors two shares of the new company for every 27 shares they hold of the old one, granting them roughly 1/3 ownership of the merged biotech. BioAlliance, currently traded on Euronext Paris, plans to eventually make its way to the Nasdaq, the company said.
Topotarget's top prospect is belinostat, a lymphoma-treating HDAC inhibitor that's up for a final FDA decision by Aug. 9. Spectrum Pharmaceuticals holds the U.S. rights to the drug, and Topotarget is in line for a $25 million milestone payment if belinostat wins an FDA nod. Beyond lymphoma, the treatment has potential applications in hematology and solid tumors, the biotech said.
That treatment will fit right in with BioAlliance's oncology pipeline, led by Livatag, a Phase III treatment for primary liver cancer that the company believes could top out at about $1.1 billion a year. BioAlliance is also working through mid-stage studies of Validive, an FDA fast-tracked treatment for oral ulcers caused by cancer therapies.
BioAlliance CEO Judith Greciet will helm the combined company, planning to bring along three Topotarget board members to serve under Chairman Patrick Langlois, the company said.
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| BioAlliance CEO Judith Greciet |
"Topotarget is managed by a highly experienced team of executives, and the merger will enable both teams to combine their respective expertise to create a new company with a robust and innovative pipeline that is primed for success," Greciet said in a statement. "It is a unique and timely opportunity to develop an orphan oncology portfolio, which addresses a wider range of life-threatening medical conditions, while creating value for our shareholders."
The final dollar value of the all-stock deal will depend on the companies' stock prices when the merger goes through. Topotarget has a market cap of about $80 million, and the company closed out 2013 with roughly $5.8 million in cash.
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