Cypress Biosci to buy Proprius for $75M

Nasdaq-listed Cypress Bioscience plans to purchase privately-held San Diego, USA-based Proprius Pharmaceuticals in a two part transaction. This involves an upfront payment of $37.5 million in cash, and an additional similar amount in potential milestone-related tranches associated with the development of the latter's therapeutic candidates, for a potential total of $75.0 million.

The acquisition, says Cypress, brings together its own drug development expertise, commercial resources and lead pharmaceutical candidate, milnacipran, which is currently under Food and Drug Administration review for the treatment of fibromyalgia (see also page 21), and Proprius' unique portfolio of proprietary, high-value personalized medicine laboratory services and therapeutic product candidates.

Proprius' portfolio includes a number of diagnostic, prognostic and predictive technologies designed to provide clinically meaningful, actionable information to enhance physicians' care of patients with rheumatoid arthritis. The nearest-term commercial opportunities include an early RA prediction technology, which helps to determine the likelihood of developing the disease in patients with undifferentiated arthritis, and a methotrexate polyglutamates monitoring assay, which helps physicians to optimize MTX therapy by providing insights on an individual's metabolism of MTX, which can vary greatly from patient to patient. Proprius' early clinical-stage therapeutic candidates include a product to treat pain and a product to treat RA, notes Cypress.