A Massachusetts-based drug-development company is acquiring AIDS drug company Trimeris in an all-stock deal.
The deal announced this morning calls for the current shareholders of Synageva BioPharma to own 75 percent of the combined company's outstanding shares; Trimeris shareholders will own the remaining 25 percent.
Trimeris has been trying to find a buyer for years after its powerful AIDS drug Fuzeon failed to meet expectations. Fuzeon is sold and marketed by Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche, which pays royalties to Trimeris.
The deal is technically a merger, but the combined company will be run by the Synageva management team led by Sanj K. Patel, who will be president and CEO -- the same titles he holds at Synageva. The combined company also will be called Synageva BioPharma.
The combined business will be "focused on the development of novel therapeutics for patients with rare diseases and unmet medical need," which is Synageva's current focus.
Patel said in a prepared statement that the deal gives Synageva "access to significant financial resources."
The combined company will remain publicly traded and Trimeris receives royalty revenues from the sale of the AIDS drug Fuzeon.
Trimeris has dwindled to just a handful of employees. Today's announcement didn't mention what will happen to them under the deal.
"We believe this newly combined company will have dramatic upside," Trimeris CEO Martin Mattingly said in a prepared statement. "The rare disease space offers very attractive opportunities for success due to the absence of effective therapies, the relatively small clinical trials, and the faster path to commercialization."
Synageva, launched in 2008, is developing a treatment for Lyosomal Lcid Lipase Deficiency; early onset of this disease can be fatal in infants.
The combined company's board of directors will include representatives from Trimeris' board.
