MS buys right to acquire Promedior in $1.25bn deal

The decision to buy the rights to Promedior rather than buying the company out-right is similar to a deal penned past year with Galecto Biotech which is developing an inhaled inhibitor of galectin-3, also in the fibrosis space.

PRM-151 has been granted Fast Track designation in the US and Orphan designation in the US and Europe for the treatment of MF and Orphan Designation in the US and Europe for the treatment of IPF.

BMS now has four fibrosis drugs in its pipeline.

Bristol-Myers will purchase worldwide rights to drug candidate PRM-151, at present in midstage improvement as a remedy for the lung situation idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and bone marrow dysfunction myelofibrosis.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) had its price target cut by Jefferies Group from $64.00 to $59.00 in a research report released on Thursday, Analyst Ratings.Net reports.

“Bristol-Myers Squibb continues to invest in strategic partnerships that accelerate the discovery and development of novel immunotherapies through innovative science and technologies”, said Carl Decicco, Ph.D., head of discovery, R&D, Bristol-Myers Squibb. Its products are manufactured by the Business in six foreign nations and in the United States, Puerto Rico.

In preclinical models, the drug was able to regulate monocytes and macrophages at areas of tissue damage to prevent and reverse fibrosis, including IPF, acute and chronic nephropathy, liver fibrosis, and age-related macular degeneratio, the firms said.

Apart from this, Bristol-Myers has been aggressively inking deals with health care companies including Eli Lilly LLY among others to study its high-profile immuno-oncology drug, Opdivo, to be used either alone or in combination with other therapies in multiple tumor types.

Bristol-Myers Squibb will also be paying an upfront cash of $150 million for the right to acquire Promedior and as payment for services in support of the idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and myelofibrosis Phase 2 clinical trials.

Morningstar sector director Damien Conover has called BMS “adept at partnerships and acquisitions”, noting that the company often bring in partners to share the development costs and diversify the risks of clinical and regulatory failure.