BRIEF—Sumitomo Dainippon drops pursuit of Cynata

Japan’s Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma announced today that it has withdrawn its offer to acquire Cynata Therapeutics, an Australian stem cell and regenerative medicine company, as the parties have been unable to reach mutually agreed on terms on the proposed acquisition.

As disclosed on July 19, 2019, Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma had made the proposal for the acquisition of Cynata and was negotiating with Cynata.

The original July offered was for Cynata shareholders to receive A$2 per share for their holdings.

In a separate statement confirming the discontinuation of talks, Cynata, whose shares dropped 5.2% to A$1.40, said it  continues to progress its Phase II clinical trial programs in osteoarthritis and critical limb ischemia, and in graft-versus-host disease with partner Fujifilm, and is actively engaged in commercial discussions with parties interested in partnering with Cynata to develop the company’s unique Cymerus therapeutic mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) technology.