Astella purchases Maxygen equity interest in Perseid Therapeutics

Under the terms of the companies’ 2009 joint venture arrangement, Maxygen transferred all of its protein pharmaceutical programs and related assets and research and development personnel to Perseid and granted Astellas an option to acquire all of Maxygen’s ownership interest in Perseid at specified exercise prices.

As a result of this transaction, Perseid has become a subsidiary of Astellas.

Maxygen retains all rights to its MAXY-G34 product candidate, which is an next-generation pegylated, granulocyte colony stimulating factor, or G-CSF, for the treatment of chemotherapy-induced neutropenia.

In addition to the $76m in cash Maxygen has received from Astellas, it also held $100m in cash and cash equivalents.

Maxygen remains eligible for a milestone payment of up to $30m from Bayer HealthCare related to the sale of hematology assets to Bayer in July 2008.