Momenta Pharmaceuticals Acquires Assets From Virdante Pharmaceuticals
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Dec. 5, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Momenta Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq:MNTA), a biotechnology company specializing in the characterization and engineering of complex drugs, today announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire the Sialic Switch assets of Virdante Pharmaceuticals, Inc., including intellectual property and cell lines, relating to the sialylation of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) and other proteins. Momenta made an upfront payment of $4.5 million and may make additional contingent milestone payments, which, if all development and regulatory milestones are achieved, will total $51.5 million.
"Virdante's Sialic Switch technology represents an exciting approach to potentially regulate anti-inflammatory activity of proteins," said Ganesh Venkataraman, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer of Momenta Pharmaceuticals, Inc. "Sialylation complements our existing technology platform and we look forward to advancing this technology in development programs, including biobetters and novel products."
Virdante, a venture-backed biotechnology company, was founded in 2008 to apply its Sialic Switch technology to develop novel therapeutic treatments for autoimmune and inflammatory disorders. Virdante's Sialic Switch technology is based on the principle of activating a novel anti-inflammatory pathway by specifically sialylating Fc-linked glycans of IgG antibodies.
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