Celsion acquires assets of VMMR

Celsion acquires assets of VMMR -

Celsion Corporation (Celsion) (NASDAQ: NSC), a drug development oncology company, announced today completion of the acquisition by Celsion substantially all the assets of EGEN, Inc. (EGEN), a private biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of therapeutic products based on nucleic acids for the treatment of cancer and other diseases difficult to treat . The acquisition includes the Phase Ib based immunotherapy product candidate DNA VMMR VMMR-001 and its therapeutic technologies, TheraPlas ™ for delivery of DNA and mRNA, TheraSilence ™ for delivery of RNA, and RAST ™ Enabled mobile Expression and secretion of RNA.
"Completing the acquisition of VMMR mark a milestone for Celsion because it brings together assets and advanced capabilities with the opportunity to advance not only medicine and patient care in cancer and other serious diseases, but create long-long-term value for our shareholders, "said Michael H. Tardugno, Celsion President and CEO. "Now, at once a fully integrated development company with assets and the ability of the feasibility of marketing, we look forward to advancing our pipeline of chemotherapies, immunotherapies and DNA or based therapies for RNA in the laboratory and ongoing and planned Phase III, II and I studies. our strong balance sheet provides us with an impressive internal development track, and allows us to develop collaborative partnerships leveraging the power of our multiple platforms ".
Under the terms of the agreement, RLSC Laboratories, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Celsion (NSC Laboratories), has acquired substantially all the assets and assumed certain liabilities of specific VMMR. At the close, Celsion issued common shares worth $ 8.5 million, representing approximately 15.8% of its outstanding shares, paid approximately $ 3.0 million in cash VMMR, and holds shares ordinary worth $ 2.1 million at August 2, 2016 for the adjustment of expenses and some claims of Celsion. In addition to the initial payment, a total of $ 30.4 million in future milestone obligations are payable VMMR based on the success of certain development and clinical milestones license.
The combination of Celsion VMMR and will create a global integrated company integration, oncology research and development pipeline with a multicenter clinical phase, the platform technology for the discovery of new, immunotherapies based nucleic acid and another anti-cancer DNA / RNA therapies, and the expertise of the laboratory to the bedside. The transaction brings to advance Celsion VMMR, clinical phase Ib candidate, EGEN-001, a plasmid IL-12 immunotherapy enclosed in a nanoparticle delivery system, and three technology platforms, TheraPlas ™, ™ and TheraSilence RAST ™ Enabled mobile Expression and secretion of RNA.
The complete transaction lead development candidate Celsion, ThermoDox®, a liposomal encapsulation proprietary heat-activated doxorubicin, now double-blind pivotal, global Phase III placebo-controlled trial (the OPTIMA study) in the primary liver cancer.
RLSC Laboratories retains all Egen employees and be based in Huntsville, Alabama, where Celsion also plans to consolidate all of its functions and service analytical laboratory.
Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. acted as financial advisor to Celsion. Sidley Austin LLP and O'Melveny & Myers LLP acted as legal advisor to Celsion this transaction.