Vistagen (Nasdaq: VTGN), a San Francisco, CA-based clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, acquired Pherin Pharmaceuticals, a San Francisco, CA-based clinical-stage drug development company.
The companies have entered into a definitive agreement under which Vistagen will acquire Pherin for approximately 12.4 million shares of Vistagen common stock and a nominal amount of cash. The deal is subject to customary closing conditions and approvals, including approval by Pherin’s stockholders.
Upon closing of the acquisition, which is subject to certain customary closing conditions, Vistagen will acquire Pherin’s entire pherine pipeline, gaining full ownership of intellectual property rights to its two most advanced drug candidates, PH94B, currently in Phase 3 development for social anxiety disorder (SAD) and Phase 2 development for adjustment disorder with anxiety (AjDA), and PH10, in clinical development for major depressive disorder (MDD). Vistagen will also expand its pipeline with three new early clinical-stage pherine product candidates: PH15 for cognition improvement; PH80 for migraine and hot flashes; and PH284 for appetite-related disorders.
Led by CEO Kevin McCarthy, Pherin Pharmaceuticals is focused on the discovery and development of pherines for acute, intermittent, and long-term treatment of a broad range of human diseases and disorders. Pherines are odorless and tasteless investigational neuroactive steroids designed to achieve pharmacological effect as a consequence of engaging specific peripheral receptors of chemosensory neurons in the nasal passages.
Led by CEO Shawn Singh, Vistagen is a late clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company aiming to transform the treatment landscape for individuals living with anxiety, depression and other CNS disorders. The company is advancing therapeutics with the potential to be faster-acting, and with fewer side effects and safety concerns, than those that are currently available. Vistagen’s clinical-stage candidates are targeting multiple types of anxiety and depression. PH94B and PH10 belong to a new class of drugs known as pherines, which are designed with a novel rapid-onset mechanism of action that activates chemosensory neurons in the nasal passages and can impact the olfactory-amygdala neural circuits without systemic uptake or direct activity on CNS neurons in the brain.
FinSMEs
24/12/2022