Newtown, MA-based Clinical Data announced that it will acquire Avalon Pharmaceuticals for $10 million. The all-stock merger agreement gives Clinical Data access to Avalon's pipeline, including oncology drug candidates, oncology biomarkers and a biomarker discovery platform. The company's lead drug candidate is AVN994, a drug being studied for the treatment of solid tumors and hematological malignancies.
"Avalon's comprehensive biomarker discovery platform, validated by partnerships with leading pharmaceutical companies, extensive library of biomarkers and compounds, and oncology expertise, add to our growing estate of proprietary oncology biomarkers and in-depth knowledge of biomarker and pharmacogenetic test development," said Drew Fromkin, Clinical Data's CEO.
Back in August Avalon announced that it was running out of money. The company cut staff and halted work on one of its cancer drugs to preserve cash while it hunted for additional funds.
- see Clinical Data's release