Bayer returns to M&A with $2.45bn Perfuse Therapeutics deal
Bayer has agreed terms for its first biopharma acquisition in years, paying $300 million upfront for privately-held US biotech Perfuse Therapeutic and its novel drug implant for eye diseases.
The deal – which includes a total value of up to $2.45 billion if various development, regulatory, and commercial objectives are met – revolves around PER-001, a small molecule endothelin receptor antagonist in phase 2 testing.
According to Bayer, PER-001 has the potential to become one of the first disease-modifying treatments for glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy, its lead indications, which affect 80 million and 146 million people, respectively, around the world and are leading causes of blindness.
Unlike current treatments that mainly reduce elevated intraocular pressure in the case of glaucoma or prevent further damage to the retina in diabetic retinopathy, PER-001 is designed to improve blood flow to the retina, dampen down inflammatory processes, and prevent cell death.
Ophthalmology is one of Bayer's core therapeutic areas, led by Regeneron-partnered VEGF inhibitor Eylea (aflibercept), used to treat diseases like age-related macular degeneration (AMD), diabetic macular oedema (DMO), and retinal vein occlusion (RVO), which is its top-selling product with sales of €3.11 billion ($3.66 billion) last year, but is facing increased competition, including from biosimilars.
Perfuse is the first takeover deal announced by Bayer in the biopharma category since it bought immunology specialist Vividion Therapeutics in 2021 for up to $2 billion, which followed shortly after a trio of acquisitions – radiopharma player Noria Therapeutics in 2021, and cell and gene therapy-focused AskBio and women's health start-up KaNDy Therapeutics in 2020.
All of those acquisitions were completed before Bayer's current chief executive, Bill Anderson, took the helm in 2023. Since then, the company has been focused more on cost reductions and a reorganisation aimed at trying to make it faster, more agile, and less bureaucratic, focusing its business development on licensing deals such as the licensing of BridgeBio's transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy therapy Beyonttra (acoramidis).
San Francisco-based Perfuse's chief executive, Sevgi Gurkan, said: "Bayer's vision aligns with ours, and they have the scale and global resources to unlock the full potential of PER-001 to change the trajectory of human blindness."
PER-001 is delivered using a bio-erodible intravitreal implant that can be administered once every six months.
In phase 2a trials reported last year, the drug reversed progressive vision loss in glaucoma, accompanied by improvements in optic nerve blood flow, and led to improvements in vision and retinal ischaemia in diabetic retinopathy. In both trials, there was also evidence of improved structure in the retina.
