Pharming hopes for product synergies in acquisition of DNage
Netherlands-based biotech company Pharming has acquired the outstanding share capital of DNage, a private company based in Rotterdam, active in the discovery of products for age related diseases and cancer.
Netherlands-based biotech company Pharming has acquired the outstanding share capital of DNage, a private company based in Rotterdam, active in the discovery of products for age related diseases and cancer.
The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of May 2006. Pharming will pay four million shares in several installments to existing DNage shareholders in addition to 600,000 warrants, future milestone payments based on DNage-product development achievements, and royalties on future sales of DNage-products.
DNage was founded in 2004 as a spin-off from the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam to commercialise research by Professor Hoeijmakers and colleagues in the area of DNA damage and repair. It has programmes in the areas of osteoporosis, brain disease, metabolic disease (type II diabetes) and genetic disease (premature ageing). Its first product for Cockayne disease, a rare genetic illness in which children suffer from accelerated ageing, is in late stage preclinical development.
The purchase enables Pharming to explore important synergies, particularly with lactoferrin, one of Pharming's products undergoing regulatory review, which may have a beneficial effect in the field of osteoporosis. In the area of immunology, where deterioration of the immune system is a major age-related problem, there is evidence that Pharming's lead product, a C1 inhibitor, could play an important role.
"The acquisition of DNage will provide Pharming with access to highly innovative products and a technology platform for new markets in the areas of ageing and cancer," said Dr Francis Pinto, ceo of Pharming. "The combination of the world-class technology developed by Professor Hoeijmakers and our recombinant human protein products will provide Pharming with new opportunities in the area of tissue repair and regeneration."
