Sanofi-Aventis To Acquire Fovea

Sanofi-Aventis has signed a binding agreement for the acquisition of Fovea Pharmaceuticals (Fovea) a privately held French research and development biopharmaceutical company, focused on ocular diseases.

Under the terms of the agreement, Sanofi-Aventis has agreed to purchase Fovea for a total enterprise value of up to E370m, including an immediate upfront payment and subsequent milestone payments related to the three clinical compounds.

The closing of the transaction is expected to occur in the 4th quarter of 2009, subject to antitrust clearance.

Christopher Viehbacher, chief executive officer of Sanofi-Aventis, said: “The acquisition of Fovea, one of the pioneer French biopharmaceutical ophthalmology company, is a further step in our company’s goal to focus on new approaches to strengthen our R&D portfolio. Fovea and its unique technology platform represent a major opportunity for Sanofi-Aventis in the very promising and dynamically growing ophthalmic area, driven by unmet medical needs and aging population. I am extremely excited to welcome Fovea in the Sanofi-Aventis family and to work with highly motivated teams to bring innovative solutions to patients for the treatment of ocular diseases.”

Bernard Gilly, president and chief executive officer of Fovea, said: “We are extremely pleased to join Sanofi-Aventis as it will provide Fovea with the necessary resources and expertise needed to continue to aggressively grow our franchise and demonstrate the efficacy of our products through regulatory clinical development. With the continued support of our founder, Professor Jose A Sahel, our team is highly motivated and we are confident that we will successfully contribute to bringing innovative treatments to patients at risk of loosing sight.”

Paris-based, Fovea has a portfolio of three clinical compounds, a technology platform and several discovery programs dedicated to back of the eye diseases.

Fovea’s three products in clinical development are – FOV 1101, an eye drop, fixed dose combination of prednisolone and cyclosporine, currently in phase II for the treatment of persistent allergic conjunctivitis; FOV 2302, an intravitreal formulation of a plasma kallikrein inhibitor, in phase I for the treatment of Retinal Vein Occlusion induced macular edema and FOV 2304, a potent antagonist of bradykinin B1 receptors, active by eye drop, scheduled to enter in phase I by November 2009 for the treatment of diabetic macular oedema.

In addition, Fovea has scientific capabilities designed around an innovative proprietary discovery Platform, dedicated to ophthalmology and especially retinal diseases and several ongoing research and development programs in glaucoma, retinitis pigmentosa and age-related macular degeneration.