Eleven Bio Finds Even More Pipeline Growth in M&A

Eleven Biotherapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: EBIO) has been gaining ever attention as 2016 has gone on. The stock traded as low as $0.25 a share this spring and as high as $6 this summer, giving investors a real nice payout. The question is where this company is going next. With its most recent announcement, mergers and acquisition are on the horizon.

The company announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Viventia. Eleven Bio simultaneously completed this agreement in which it purchased all the outstanding capital stock of Viventia in exchange for the issuance of 4,013,431 newly issued shares of Eleven Bio common stock, which represented approximately 19.9% of the voting power. There is also an agreement by Eleven Bio to pay selling shareholders certain post-closing contingent cash payments on the achievement of specified milestones and based on net sales related to Viventia’s lead product candidate, Vicinium.

Eleven’s pipeline now includes Viventia’s lead product candidates Vicinium and Proxinium. Vicinium is in a Phase 3 clinical trial for high-grade non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC), with top-line data expected in the first half of 2018. Proxinium is expected to enter Phase 2 development in early 2017 for the treatment of late-stage squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.

Proxinium has received Orphan Drug Designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA), as well as Fast Track designation from the FDA.

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The pipeline now also includes Viventia’s earlier stage pipeline of next generation TPT candidates that are designed and optimized for systemic administration for the potential treatment of a broader spectrum of cancer types.

Abbie Celniker, Ph.D., former president and CEO of Eleven Bio and current member of its board of directors, commented:

As previously announced, Eleven performed an extensive review of our strategic alternatives, and our Board of Directors believes that the acquisition of Viventia offers Eleven shareholders a compelling opportunity for enhancing long-term value. Our combined company will continue to support Roche as they develop EBI-031, and will benefit from the capital contributed by this partnership, which provides the necessary funding to enable further development of Vicinium and Proxinium.

Shares were trading up about 15% at $3.89 on Wednesday, with a consensus analyst price target of $12.00 and a 52-week trading range of $0.25 to $5.97.

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