Pharmaceutical conglomerate Pfizer acquired US-based biopharmaceutical company Excaliard yesterday for an undisclosed amount yesterday in a transaction expected to close before the end of the year.
Excaliard’s only significant financing since its 2006 founding was a $15.5m series A round in November 2007, by biomedical company Isis Pharmaceuticals and venture capital firms Alta Partners, ProQuest Investments and RiverVest Venture Partners.
Pfizer will pay for the acquisition via a combination of an upfront payment with a series of milestone payments to potentially follow. Isis, having signed an agreement with Excaliard concerning the development and commercialisation of certain drugs, will receive a share of both the upfront and the milestone payments.
Mikael Dolsten, president of worldwide research and development for Pfizer, said: "The acquisition of Excaliard is part of our corporate research and development strategy to actively complement our robust internal project pipeline with innovative and differentiated drugs from biotech partners."
The research conducted by Excaliard focuses on the treatment of skin fibrosis, or skin scarring. Excaliard’s lead product, currently known as EXC 001, is in phase 2 of clinical testing, and Pfizer plans to carry on the development of the drug. At present, there are no drugs to treat skin scarring that have been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on the market.
Jose-Carlos Gutierrez-Ramos, senior vice president of biotherapeutics, worldwide research and development (R&D) at Pfizer, said: "The science behind Excaliard’s lead compound aligns well with our R&D focus on new treatments for fibrosis and tissue remodeling. We view EXC 001 as being well positioned to potentially become a novel, transformative therapy in a space with limited available treatment options."