NeuroSearch to get $7.8 million from sale of Sophion stake to Biolin Scientific

Danish CNS drug developer NeuroSearch (NEUR: CO) is set to earn 40 million Danish kroner ($7.8 million) from the sales of its 30.1% stake in spin-out business Sophion Bioscience to Biolin Scientific, a subsidiary of Swedish private equity conglomerate Ratos AB. Concurrently, all other shareholders in Sophion will sell their shares.

The sales price is 155 million kroner in total of which 10 million kroner depend on sales milestones in 2011/12. The sale is expected to be finalized in the third quarter of 2011.

NeuroSearch founded Sophion in 2000 as a spin-out of an in-house technology project. Since then, NeuroSearch has been actively involved in the development of Sophion's automated patch clamp products, primarily the QPatch. These systems have been in beta test at NeuroSearch as well as used in the testing of NeuroSearch drugs for the effect on ion channels. As the production of laboratory equipment is not part of the NeuroSearch core business, this sale is the best way forward to ensure the continued successful development of Sophion.