BioAssets, Cephalon deal
Cephalon exercised its option to acquire BioAssets for $12.5 million after receiving positive interim data from a Phase II trial of BioAssets' biosimilar version of autoimmune drug Enbrel etanercept to treat sciatica. BioAssets shareholders will also be eligible for milestones and royalties. Last year, Cephalon paid $30 million for the option to acquire BioAssets. At the time, Cephalon said BioAssets' IP and data would allow it to evaluate the use of its own TNF inhibitor, CEP-37247 (formerly ART-621), for sciatica. The deal is expected to close next month. Extera Partners advised BioAssets. Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN, Thousand Oaks, Calif.) co-markets Enbrel with Wyeth, a subsidiary of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE, New York, N.Y.) (see BioCentury, Nov. 2, 2009). ...