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| Alliqua BioMedical CEO David Johnson |
Wound-care outfit Alliqua BioMedical ($ALQA) shelled out $30.4 million for ultrasound therapy company Celleration, broadening its portfolio and gaining ground in regenerative medicine.
The Langhorne, PA-based company will pay Celleration an initial purchase price in cash and stock, and additional payments if certain sales and regulatory milestones are met by the end of 2016, it said in its regulatory filing. Through the deal, Alliqua will get its hands on Celleration's MIST Therapy System, an FDA-cleared device that uses low-frequency ultrasound to stimulate cells below the wound bed to promote healing. The company touts promising study results for the device, which found that MIST therapy worked better than the standard treatment for venous leg ulcers. Eden Prairie, MN-based Celleration snagged reimbursement payment for outpatient services for its ultrasound platform earlier this year.
Alliqua will also double its sales force through the deal, joining forces with Celleration to market the companies' suite of products, CEO David Johnson said in a statement.
"Celleration's innovative MIST therapy technology is positioned perfectly within Alliqua's business model," Johnson said. "MIST therapy is a differentiated wound-care treatment which is supported by a breadth of data that demonstrates its clinical efficacy and strong economic value proposition."
The acquisition follows a string of wound-care M&A deals, as larger devicemakers and smaller companies vie for a piece of a growing market. In July 2013, Texas device outfit Kinetic Concepts snatched up wound-healing company Systagenix for $485 million as part of a multiyear plan to revamp operations. In May, private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice bought wound-care specialist Healogics from Metalmark Capital for $910 million.
In 2012, orthopedics giant Smith & Nephew ($SNN) laid down $782 million to acquire Healthpoint Biotherapeutics. The company inherited Healthpoint's Santyl ointment, a bioactive wound therapy that treats venous leg ulcers, through the transaction. In November 2013, S&N also bought 25% of Politec Saude, a Brazilian wound-care operation. The company's diversification plans could be paying off, as the company reported $1.14 billion in revenue for its fiscal third quarter--a 3% jump over the previous year.
- here's the 8-K filing
- read Alliqua's statement
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