BRIEF—Lab Théa terminates asset purchase deal with ProQr

Dutch rare diseases biotech ProQR Therapeutics today disclosed that its previously announced accord to divest the company’s late-stage ophthalmic assets to France-based Laboratoires Théa has been terminated.

The completion of the transaction was conditional on Théa entering into employment agreements with a number of key ophthalmology personnel from ProQR.

Some of these individuals have now elected not to proceed with employment at Théa, therefore that closing condition for the transaction cannot be fulfilled and Théa has terminated the agreement.

“While we are disappointed that the sale of these ophthalmology programs to Théa will not proceed, our primary focus at ProQR remains on our Axiomer RNA editing platform,” said Daniel de Boer, founder and chief executive of ProQR.

“We look forward to advancing our wholly-owned pipeline with an initial focus on targets for cholestatic and cardiovascular diseases, in addition to our partnership with Lilly, as we work to develop a new class of therapies for patients with high unmet need,” he added.