Piramal Health acquires rights to Bayer8217;s molecular imaging R038;D portfolio

Piramal Healthcare has agreed to buy a research and development portfolio from Bayer AG

Ajay Piramal promoted Piramal Healthcare would acquire worldwide rights to the molecular imaging research and development portfolio of Bayer Pharma AG for an undisclosed sum. It would do so through its newly created subsidiary Piramal Imaging SA.

The portfolio to which Piramal would gain through the deal includes rights to Florbetaben, which is expected to aid in early diagnosis of Alzheimer cases. This novel product is in the final stages of its Phase III clinical trials. Florbetaben is a PET tracer for the detection of beta-Amyloid plaque deposition in the brain,which is the pathological hallmark of disease in probable Alzheimers disease patients. Detection of beta-Amyloid depositions is expected to result in earlier diagnosis and more specific treatment of Alzheimers disease,a company statement said.

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Commenting on the transaction, Ajay Piramal,chairman Piramal Group,said,This is the second acquisition of late stage assets after our acquisition of assets of BioSyntech in 2011,where we have recently received the European CE mark approval for an innovative bio-orthopaedic product for cartilage repair,BST-CarGel,which enables the company to commercialize BST-CarGel in all of the countries in the European Union. We plan to build a promising portfolio in the pharma space,including our newly acquired molecular imaging assets,which will help us create a global branded pharma business8221;.

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As per the agreement,Piramal will have the intellectual property including patents,trademarks and know-how,worldwide development,marketing and distribution rights of the lead compound florbetaben as well as other clinical and pre-clinical assets of Bayers molecular imaging business. Piramal estimates that the new class of PET imaging agents for Alzheimer8217;s has a global market potential of up to 1.5 billion and is setting up a dedicated global commercial team for florbetaben. Core members of Bayers research and development team working on the portfolio will be joining Piramal Imaging,which will carry forward the development of florbetaben and take it through regulatory approval processes worldwide. Piramal is planning to file for regulatory approvals in 2012.

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