MediGene to buy UK's Avidex

Germany's MediGene has agreed to buy the UK's Avidex for $62.4 million in shares. MediGene gains the British biotech's pipeline of experimental therapies for cancer and autoimmune diseases. Advent Venture Partners owns a majority interest in Avidex, which is pushing RhuDex for rheumatoid arthritis into a pilot Phase IIa. The biotech was spun out of Oxford University in 1999. Other preclinical projects are built around Avidex's expertise in working with T cell receptors. The FDA recently extended its review of MediGene's ointment for genital warts.

- here's the release on the buyout