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news.Biotechnology firm Biogen Idec has struck a deal to acquire Fumapharm AG after a drug that the companies were co-developing for the treatment of multiple sclerosis achieved positive results in a phase II trial.
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The boards of both companies have approved the transaction, which is expected to close in two months. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Fumapharm, founded in Switzerland in 1983, develops therapeutics derived from fumaric acid esters for patients with high unmet medical need.
The deal comes a day after the positive results from the phase II trial were announced. The study achieved its primary endpoint, demonstrating that treatment with BG-12 led to a statistically significant reduction in the total number of gadolinium-enhancing brain lesions as measured by MRI with six months of treatment versus placebo.
“This acquisition supports our goal of developing innovative therapeutic options for people living with MS,” said James Mullen, Biogen Idec's president and CEO.
“We look forward to continuing the development of BG-12, a promising oral compound in MS, as well as expanding our European operations by working with Fumapharm's existing partners to provide Fumaderm to psoriasis patients in Germany,” he added.
Multiple sclerosis is an incurable disease where the immune system attacks the insulation of nerve fibers by mistake.