Therapy Areas: Inflammatory Diseases
ViroPharma gets exclusivity to buy Meritage Pharma
23 December 2011 - US biotech Viropharma Inc (NASDAQ:VPHM) on Thursday said it had acquired an exclusive option to buy privately-held Meritage Pharma Inc for USD7.5m (EUR5.7m) initially.

Meritage develops an oral budesonide suspension (OBS) as a treatment for eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE), a chronic inflammatory disorder of the esophagus.

Under the deal, the buyer will pay another sum of up to USD12.5m for the development of the esophagus drug and the exclusive right to buy out Meritage upon the achievement of certain clinical and regulatory milestones.

The acquisition will help Meritage to fund its mid-stage study on the treatment. The transaction will also help ViroPharma to widen its portfolio, CEO Vincent Milano said.

After receiving the final data from the study, ViroPharma will be entitled to acquire Meritage for USD69.9m.

(USD1 = EUR0.765)
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