Biotie and Synosia to merge
This article was originally published in Scrip
Biotie Therapies (Finland) is acquiring CNS drug development firm Synosia Therapeutics (Switzerland) in an all-share deal valued at about €94 million based on Biotie's €0.58 per share price at close on 10 January. The merger will generate a combined company with nine clinical-stage drug candidates.
Under terms of the deal Biotie will issue 161,448,371 shares to shareholders and warrant-holders of privately-held Synosia, in exchange for the entire issued share capital and outstanding warrants of Synosia. The proposed takeover has yet to be approved by Biotie's shareholders.
The combined pipeline is headed by Biotie's Phase III alcohol-dependence therapy, nalmefene, which is being partnered worldwide with Lundbeck. Last week the two firms reported positive data from the first two of three nalmefene Phase III trials, and a third Phase III study is due to report during the second quarter of 2011 (scripintelligence.com, 6 January 2011). Submission of a marketing authorisation application in Europe is slated for the second half of the year.
Biotie's earlier-stage clinical pipeline includes two Phase I candidates: Ronomilast is a phosphodiesterase-4 (PDE4) inhibitor in development for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and a VAP-1 antibody in development for rheumatoid arthritis. Biotie is considering partnerships for both products.
Synosia brings a pipeline of CNS product candidates and a recently announced partnership with UCB Pharma that included a $20 million equity investment and has potential for $725 million in milestone payments plus royalties. This collaboration covers SYN-115, a novel adenosine A2a receptor antagonist for Parkinson's disease in Phase II and SYN-118 (nitisinone), which is already approved and marketed for an orphan disease indication as Orfadin by Swedish Orphan Biovitrum. The combined entity will have rights outside orphan disease indications and plans to develop it as a new treatment for Parkinson's disease that could be complementary to SYN-115. A placebo-controlled Phase IIa study in Parkinson's disease is ongoing with data expected during the first half. UCB has an option to license this compound.
management changes
Following the merger, Timo Veromaa will continue as president and CEO of Biotie. Synosia's CEO, Ian Massey, will become chief operating officer and president of US operations, a newly created position.
Synosia's chief medical officer (CMO), Stephen Bandak, will become Biotie's CMO. Chris Piggott, Biotie's chief business officer, will continue in this role in the combined entity.
Biotie's CFO, Thomas Taapken, will continue in his role until 1 April 2011, when he will leave the company to take up the position of CFO of Epigenomics, replacing Oliver Schacht. Ulla Sjöblom, Biotie's vice president of finance, will serve as acting CFO until a new CFO is appointed.