pharmawire article
12:07 Altus Pharmaceuticals retains Morgan Stanley to review strategic options - sources
Story Altus Pharmaceuticals has retained Morgan Stanley to review strategic options, it is understood. The listed biopharmaceutical, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is said to have only just appointed the US investment bank.
A spokesperson for the company declined to comment.
One source familiar situation said that Morgan Stanley was working with the drug developer but did not divulge any further information. A second source said that they had seen an information memorandum on the company.
Other sources said that were not surprised by the news, with one US business development consultant noting that Altus had been "shopping its products at the same time". The company had a setback last December when Genentech sold back the development and commercial rights to ALTU-238, a growth hormone drug that the two companies had partnered on. At the time, the company believed it could find another partner for the drug.
In February, chief executive Sheldon Berkle resigned and was replaced by chairman Dr David Pendergast, who is still assuming executive duties until a replacement is found. Pendergast was part of the management team at Transkaryotic Therapies when it was sold to Shire in 2005, and subsequently headed up the UK-listed company's genetic therapies unit. Altus has been previously reported as a possible target for Shire.
Altus is developing a series of products to treat gastrointestinal and metabolic disorders. Its lead compound is Trizytek, a porcine-free enzyme in Phase III development for pancreatic insufficiency.
Altus has a market cap of USD 123m.
