Bayer buys Bluerock Therapeutics for up to $600m
Bayer Adr
€105.18
19:59 22/03/17
Germany's Bayer said it would pay up to $600m (£493m) to take control of cell therapy developer BlueRock Therapeutics.
The drugmaker on Thursday said it would by the 59.2% of Bluerock it does not own for $250m in cash upfront with a further $360m on offer in milestone payments.
BlueRock, set up with Versant Ventures in 2016, was valued at about $1bn under the deal.
The company's portfolio of cell therapies is currently focused on neurology, cardiology and immunology with a lead program in Parkinson’s disease expected to enter the clinic by the end of 2019, Bayer said in a statement.
It said that among neurodegenerative disorders, Parkinson's disease was the fastest growing "in prevalence, disability and mortality".
"Stem cell therapy could re-innervate the human brain and reverse degenerative disease, potentially restoring motor function to more than seven million patients suffering from Parkinson’s disease globally," the company said.