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9 August 2019AmericasSarah Morgan

Bayer buys BlueRock to build cell therapy expertise

Bayer is set to acquire the rest of BlueRock Therapeutics, in a deal that values the Massachusetts-based cell therapy company at $1 billion.

German life sciences company Bayer currently owns a 40.2% stake in BlueRock, as a result of a 2016 joint venture with healthcare venture capital firm Versant Ventures to establish the company.

Biotech company BlueRock is focused on developing engineered cell therapies in the fields of neurology, cardiology and immunology, using a proprietary induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) platform.

As part of the agreement, Bayer will acquire the remaining stake for $240 million paid upfront, and an additional $360 million payable upon achievement of pre-defined development milestones.

Stefan Oelrich, member of Bayer’s board of management and president of its pharmaceuticals division, said the acquisition marks a major milestone in Bayer’s path towards a leading position in cell therapy.

According to a press release from Versant, BlueRock’s pipeline includes a promising treatment for Parkinson’s disease expected to launch by the end of 2019.

Bayer’s release added that stem cell therapy could “re-innervate the human brain and reverse degenerative disease”, potentially restoring motor function to more than seven million patients suffering from Parkinson’s disease globally.

In an effort to preserve its culture, BlueRock will remain an operationally independent company operating on an “arm’s-length” basis.

Bayer initially took a stake in the company through its Leaps programme, which works on establishing new companies and investing in new early-stage technologies with breakthrough potential.

“In line with our strategy to ramp up our investments in technologies with breakthrough innovation potential, we have decided to build our cell therapy pipeline based on BlueRock Therapeutics’ industry-leading iPSC platform,” said Oelrich.

Bayer obviously sees value in investing in iPSC-focused companies.

In July, Bayer backed Century Therapeutics, a Versant-created company developing an iPSC allogeneic cell therapy platform.

The proceeds from financing commitments from Bayer, Versant and Fujifilm Cellular Dynamics will enable Century to advance multiple programs into the clinic for haematologic and solid malignancies.

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