Pharmexa and Affitech link as new Ab firm

Denmark's Pharmexa A/S and privately-held Norwegian firm Affitech AS have entered into a conditional agreement to merge the two companies by  means of a share for share transaction. The purpose is to transform  Pharmexa from a cancer and infectious disease vaccine business into a  company focused on the R&D of human antibody therapeutic drugs.

Under the terms of the accord, Pharmexa will offer to acquire 100% of  the outstanding and issued share capital of Affitech in exchange for  newly-issued stock of Pharmexa. On completion of the transaction,  Affitech's shareholders will own about 70% and Pharmexa's 30% of the  merged group. The combined company will be renamed Affitech A/S and it  is aimed to continue its listing on the Nasdaq OMX exchange in  Copenhagen. The existing Affitech drug discovery business in Oslo will  be renamed Affitech Research AS. As part of the merger, certain Affitech  shareholders will undertake to participate in a new share issue which  Pharmexa expects to take place during the second or third quarter of  this year.

Announcing the merger, Achim Kaufhold, chief executive of the Danish  firm, said: "Pharmexa has experienced product setbacks over the last  year which have led us to consider a variety of strategic options to  revitalize the business and to generate future value for our  shareholders. The acquisition of Affitech builds on the expertise and  capabilities of Pharmexa, but is also a transformational event that  moves us into the exciting field of antibody therapeutics, one of the  most attractive sectors of the biopharmaceutical industry. Following  several high-value mergers and acquisitions in the antibody discovery  field, Affitech remains one of only a limited number of independent  companies with a strong position in high-throughput screening of  antibody libraries."