Paion AG buys CeNeS Pharma for $21.7M

German biotechnology firm Paion AG will acquire CeNeS Pharmaceuticals in a deal that values the UK drugmaker focused on the heart and central nervous system at 13.7 million euros ($21.7 million). CeNeS stockholders will receive 0.3521 new Paion shares for each of their CeNeS shares, which represents a 32% premium on the UK firm's April 9 closing price.

The acquisition, which is anticipated to close at the end of June, is intended to create a substantial international biopharmaceutical company with a pipeline of clinical drug candidates for the treatment of thrombotic diseases and CNS-related interventions in the hospital setting. Paion's lead drug candidate is Desmoteplase, a genetically-engineered version of a blood-clot dissolving protein from the saliva of the vampire bat Desmodus rotundus. But doubts hang over its future after the drug worked no better than placebo in a recent Phase III stroke trial (Marketletter June 11, 2007). CeNeS will help bolster Paion's flagging pipeline. The Cambridge-based firm's lead drug is M6G (morphine-6-glucuronide), which has shown equivalent pain relief to morphine but with less nausea and vomiting.

Commenting on the merger, Wolfgang Sohngen, chief executive of Paion, said, the acquisition will help the German firm move away from its image as a one-product-company. "With its combined strong development portfolio targeted at both cardiovascular and CNS-related conditions, I believe the enlarged group will be well-positioned to successfully implement its realigned strategy," he added.