Firm will also pay Curacyte about $16.17 million if it commences Phase II trials for lead compound that will enter the clinic by the end of 2008.
The Medicines Company paid €14.5 million, or $22.34 million, for Curacyte’s subsidiary Curacyte Discovery, which focuses on synthetic serine protease inhibitors in the area of hemostasis and anticoagulation. Curacyte Discovery’s lead compound, CU-2010, is expected to enter the clinic later this year.
CU-2010 is being developed for preventing surgical blood loss. Curacyte is eligible to receive roughly $16.17 million as a milestone fee if The Medicines Company progresses the candidate into a Phase II trial. If commercialized, a low, single-digit royalty and a single future commercial milestone will be made.
This acquisition gives The Medicines Company the capability to develop drugs around inhibitors of serine proteases. The firm already has an approved medication in this class called Angiomax, indicated for hospital antithrombotic.
“The acquisition of CU-2010 fits within our focused business development strategy, which is to evaluate both early- and late-stage compounds in our core area of expertise, critical care medicine, particularly thrombosis and hemostasis,” states Glenn Sblendorio, evp and CFO of The Medicines Company.
Curacyte and its other subsidiary Apex Bioscience will continue to develop their lead product, hemoximer, in a Phase III pivotal trial in patients suffering from catecholamine-resistant distributive shock.
