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Adventrx agrees to buy sickle cell drug company
By Keith Darcé

Friday, January 7, 2011 at 8:13 a.m.

San Diego drug developer Adventrx Pharmaceuticals said Friday that it agreed to acquire another biotechnology company, whose main drug candidate treats a painful blockage of blood vessels in people with sickle cell anemia, in exchange for 47 percent of Adventrx’s stock.

The deal is worth $20.24 million based on the closing price of Adventrx shares prior to the acquisition announcement.

Adventrx officials wouldn’t name the privately-held target company or say where it is located.

Shares of Adventrx were down 41 cents, or 14 percent, to $2.52 in early trading after the announcement.

Owners of the target company will receive 19 percent of Adventrx’s stock as an upfront payment. The rest of the shares will be delivered when the Food and Drug Administration accepts a new drug application for the target company’s main experimental therapy, identified as TPC, and approves the drug for sale in the United States.

The milestone payments will be made in cash if Adventrx shareholders fail to approve the stock exchange, as required by stock market regulations.

Sickle cell anemia patients sometimes experience something called a sickle cell crisis, when the deformed red blood cells in their body begin to pile up in blood vessels. The condition can block the flow of oxygen-carrying blood, cause pain, damage eyes and kidneys, and trigger brain hemorhaging and strokes.

TPC, which has received an orphan drug designation from the FDA, is a molecule that lowers the surface tension of water in the blood, making the cells more slippery and less prone to clumping, Adventrx said.

Adventrx will spend between $15 million and $25 million over the next three years on a Phase 3 trial of TPC, the company said.

A Phase 3 trial of the experimental drug previously was initiated by the target company and another investor. However, that study was suspended when money for the test ran out, Adventrx said.

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http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/jan/07/adventrx-agrees-buy-sickle-cell-drug-company/