Eleven Biotherapeutics, a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based clinical-stage pharmaceutical company developing anti-cancer agents, has acquired Viventia Bio, Winnipeg, Canada-based biopharmaceutical company. Under the agreement, Eleven purchased all of the outstanding capital stock of Viventia in exchange for the issuance of 4,013,431 newly issued shares of Eleven common stock. The acquisition was approved by the boards of directors of both companies. Eleven has agreed to pay to the selling shareholders certain post-closing contingent cash payments upon the achievement of specified milestones and based upon net sales related to Viventia’s lead product candidate, vicinium, a drug candidate in Phase III clinical trial for treating high-grade non-muscle invasive bladder cancer.

The combined company will continue to be named Eleven Biotherapeutics, and Stephen Hurly, formerly Viventia’s chief executive officer (CEO), was appointed president and CEO of Eleven in connection with the acquisition. Abbie Celniker, Eleven’s former president and CEO, will remain a director of Eleven Biotherapeutics.

Eleven’s pipeline now includes Viventia’s lead product candidates vicinium and proxinium. Proxinium is expected to enter Phase II development in early 2017 for late-stage squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. Proxinium has received orphan drug designation from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) as well as fast track designation from the FDA. Both product candidates are anti-EpCAM (epithelial cell adhesion molecule) fusion proteins that have been optimized for local tumor administration.

Viventia’s drug development is focused on locally administered targeted protein therapeutics (TPTs) for the treatment of cancer. Viventia’s TPTs are expressed as a single fusion protein with a differentiated payload mechanism, which the company says eliminates the need for payload conjugation and multi-step manufacturing.

Eleven Biotherapeutics is focused on developed anti-cancer agents using alternatives to antibody drug conjugates.The company’s TPTs genetically combine antibody-based fragments with protein immunotoxin payloads to create a single protein molecule through the company’s proprietary one-step manufacturing process, according to information from the company.

In August 2016, Eleven Biotherapeutics signed a licensing deal with Roche, worth up to $270 million, for developing a monoclonal antibody for treating ocular disease.

Source: Eleven Biotherapeutics