Bayer to fully acquire US cell therapy company BlueRock Therapeutics

Bayer acquisition of BlueRock Therapeutics : Bayer will take full ownership in US cell therapy company BlueRock Therapeutics for an enterprise value of up to $1 billion, as per the latest pharma acquisition news.

Headquartered in Cambridge, BlueRock Therapeutics develops engineered cell therapies in the fields of neurology, cardiology, and immunology using its proprietary induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) platform.

The US cell therapy company was established in 2016 by Bayer and founding investor Versant Ventures with a $225 million Series A financing as part of the Leaps by Bayer unit. Leaps, which is complementary to Bayer’s divisional R&D approach, establishes new companies and invests in new technologies to prevent or cure health problems.

Bayer acquisition of BlueRock Therapeutics. Photo courtesy of Bayer AG.

Terms of Bayer acquisition of BlueRock Therapeutics

Bayer currently holds a stake of 40.8% in the US biotech company. It will make an upfront payment of around $240 million in cash at closing and an additional $360 million on the achievement of pre-defined development milestones to acquire the remaining stake.

BlueRock Therapeutics will remain an independent company operating on an arm’s-length basis, according to Bayer.

Emile Nuwaysir – CEO of BlueRock Therapeutics CEO, commenting on Bayer acquisition of BlueRock Therapeutics, said: “We have built a premier cell therapy platform at BlueRock Therapeutics, with industry-leading R&D, process development and manufacturing capabilities.

“With the expertise and support of Bayer, we will be even better positioned to pursue the discovery, development and commercialization of revolutionary new cell therapies for patients suffering from diseases previously thought of as intractable.”

Following the closing of the deal, Bayer will own full rights to BlueRock Therapeutics’ CELL+GENE platform and associated technology platform including proprietary iPSC technology, gene engineering, and cell differentiation capabilities.

Commenting on Bayer acquisition of BlueRock Therapeutics, Stefan Oelrich – Bayer Member of the Board of Management and President of Pharmaceuticals Division, said: “This acquisition marks a major milestone on our path towards a leading position in cell therapy.

“In line with our strategy to ramp up our investments in technologies with breakthrough innovation potential, we have decided to build our cell therapy pipeline based on BlueRock Therapeutics’ industry-leading iPSC platform.”

Bayer acquisition of BlueRock Therapeutics is expected to close during the third quarter of 2019. For more pharma acquisition news, keep following Pharma News Daily.

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