BRIEF—pSivida buys eye products firm Icon Bioscience

Shares of pSivida leapt more than 14% to $1.22 after it announced the acquisition of Icon Bioscience.

Icon is a specialty biopharmaceutical company whose lead product Dexycu (dexamethasone intraocular suspension) 9% is Food and Drug Administration approved for postoperative inflammation and is administered as a single dose at the end of ocular surgery.

Dexycu is the first long-acting intraocular product approved by the FDA for the treatment of postoperative inflammation.

Dexycu utilizes Icon’s proprietary Verisome drug-delivery platform which allows for a single injection that releases over time.

Icon Bioscience will rebrand as EyePoint Pharmaceuticals, according to pSivida chief executive Nancy Lurker, adding that EyePoint plans to launch Dexycu commercially in the first half of 2019, and if it receives FDA approval for Durasert, which has a PDUFA date of November 5, 2018, it will also be launched in the first half of next year, Ms Lurker said.

At the same time, the company has entered into a financial agreement with EW Healthcare Partners. EW Healthcare Partners and a third party investor will make equity investments in pSivida for a total of up to approximately $60.5 million.

In addition, SWK Holdings Corporation (SWK) has agreed to provide pSivida with up to $20 million in a debt facility.

The company will use these resources to finance the Icon acquisition and prepare for the commercial launches of Dexycu and, if approved by FDA, Durasert micro-insert for the treatment of non-infectious uveitis affecting the posterior segment of the eye.