M&A
Sun Pharma eyes US ocular delivery expert
A wholly-owned subsidiary of Sun Pharma has offered to acquire InSite Vision, which owns a branded ophthalmic portfolio, including three late-stage candidates.
The board of InSight Vision unanimously approved the proposed transaction, which will swap the company’s shares for $0.35 cash, amounting to about $48m. Sun Pharma said the offer is “a 30% premium to the implied price per share under the terminated ‘Amended and Restated Agreement and Plan of Merger’ between InSite Vision and a competing bidder.”
InSite Vision’s board of directors has also approved the transaction and unanimously recommended that its stockholders tender their shares pursuant to the tender offer. The deal is now subject to InSite’s shareholders.
US pipeline
Sun Pharma has already begun establishing a branded eye business in the US, with the recent in-licensing of Xelpros (latanoprost BAK-free eye drops) in June this year.
The InSite Vision deal will bring Sun Pharma’s number of late-stage US programmes to four.
The Californian company bases its pipeline on its “DuraSite” drug delivery platforms which can extend the duration of drug retention, allowing lower dosing frequency and better efficacy.
These include BromSite (0.075% bromfenac) for the treatment of inflammation and prevention of pain associated with cataract surgery, for which InSite Vision recently filed a New Drug Application with the US FDA. It plans to file another NDA in 2017 for DexaSite (0.1% dexamethasone) for non-bacterial blepharitis.
Its antibiotic candidate AzaSite Plus is currently in Phase III trials for eye infections, and ISV-101 is in Phase I-II for dry-eye disease and inflammation.
InSite Vision also has two products on the market for bacterial eye infections, AzaSite (azithromycin ophthalmic solution) 1%, and Besivance (besifloxacinophthalmic suspension) 0.6%.
