Ipsen pays 6 million euros for option to acquire Canbex

24 February 2015

French drugmaker Ipsen (Euronext: IPN) today announced that UK-based biotech firm Canbex Therapeutics has granted an option giving Ipsen the exclusive right to purchase 100% of Canbex shares upon completion of the Phase IIa study of Canbex’ lead candidate for the treatment of spasticity in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), known as VSN16R.

Canbex is a spin-off of University College London (UCL) that raised a Series A financing of £2.3 million (around $3.5 million at current exchange rates) in 2013 from MS Ventures (the corporate venture arm of Merck Serono (part of Merck KGaA), the Wellcome Trust and UCL Business Plc.

90 million euros due if option is exercised

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