Rochester, N.Y.-based Bausch & Lomb’s pending $500 million acquisition of Ista Pharmaceuticals Inc. appears motivated by products in the Irvine-based company’s pipeline.
Ista lost $56 million last year, but now has six products in development.
Those products will boost Bausch & Lomb’s “near-term commercial prospects,” business-information consultancy IHS Global Insight wrote after the deal was announced in late March.
Those include Remura, a potential drug for dry eye that failed a late-stage trial in prescription form and is now being considered for over-the-counter uses.
Also in the lineup is Prolensa, a low concentration of bromfenac, the active ingredient in Ista’s primary drug, Bromday, for treating inflammation and pain after cataract surgery.
“This acquisition nearly doubles our late-stage research and development pipeline, and Ista’s product development and regulatory expertise will further strengthen our overall portfolio,” Bausch Chief Executive Brent Saunders said.
Bausch is also gaining some more advanced potential drugs through the Ista deal, with Saunders saying the deal “nearly doubles our late-stage research and development pipeline.”
Ista and Bausch’s existing drug portfolios are complementary, Saunders added, as Ista’s drugs round out Bausch’s portfolio of branded, generic and over-the-counter products.
“We’ve been paying close attention to Ista over the years,” the Bausch chief executive said.
Saunders noted Bausch has been manufacturing Ista’s drugs for some time.
“Clearly we began paying even closer attention after Valeant (Pharmaceuticals International Inc.) announced their bid for the company and the Ista board initiated a thoughtful process,” Saunders said.
Bausch won Ista with its offer, which was considerably larger than a pair of unsolicited offers by Canada-based Valeant. Ista rebuffed both of Valeant’s proposals, saying it preferred to conduct a process on its own terms.
Board Elevation
Robert Grant, who until recently ran Bausch & Lomb’s Aliso Viejo-based surgical hub, has been named chairman of Redwood City-based Myoscience Inc., where he has been a director since November 2010.
Myoscience Chief Executive Clint Carnell said he had “the utmost respect for [Grant’s] strategic talent and his deep understanding of the medical device and pharmaceutical markets.”
Grant is also a former president of Allergan Medical, the unit of Irvine-based Allergan Inc. that makes Botox Cosmetic.
Myoscience said late last month that it has raised $33 million in a fourth round of venture capital funding, with the expectations of a second tranche of up to $12 million based on interest from investors. Investors include Accuitive Medical Ventures of Palo Alto and Munich-based Medicis Capital Group.
The device maker will use the new funding to commercialize in Europe. Myoscience seeks to expand its technology for treating pain and muscle disorders.
Myoscience already has Canadian regulatory clearance for the temporary treatment of wrinkles and treating pain and is looking for Food and Drug Administration approval, according to a story in the San Jose Business Journal.
Bits and Pieces
Sequent Medical Inc., an Aliso Viejo-based maker of devices to treat ballooning blood vessels in the brain, signed a licensing agreement with Inceptus Medical LLC, which is also located in Aliso Viejo. Under the deal, Inceptus will use Sequent’s MicroBraid technology in selected device applications. … NextGen Healthcare Information Systems Inc., a subsidiary of Irvine healthcare technology company Quality Systems Inc., said it has a reseller deal with Burlington, Mass.-based Nuance Communications Inc. Horsham, Pa.-based NextGen will resell Nuance’s Dragon Medical speech recognition software to NextGen’s ambulatory electronic medical record clients. … Reza Zadno, who founded Irvine eye device maker Visiogen Inc., has joined Interwest Partners in Menlo Park as a venture partner. Visiogen was acquired for $400 million in 2009 by Abbott Medical Optics Inc., the Santa Ana ophthalmology unit of Abbott Laboratories.
Interwest’s local investments include eye device makers Glaukos Corp. of Aliso Viejo and ReVision Optics Inc. in Laguna Hills. … UnitedHealth Group Inc., a managed care company with more than 3,000 workers in Cypress, said it introduced a mobile application for its members that allows, among other things, giving access to nurses, as well as finding doctors and personal health information.
The application is available for the iPhone and iPad and later will be available via Android devices.
