Merger Proposals Blocked By Cell Therapies Developer

An announcement by Hybrigenics (Paris, France) on September 6, which stated the renewal of discussions for a possible partnership with Bone Therapeutics, has been played down by the Belgian cell therapy company, which is focused on addressing unmet medical needs in orthopaedics and other diseases.

Responding the next day, Bone therapeutics (Gosselies, Belgium) stated that the French biopharma company had only made ‘very preliminary contacts’ to examine a combination of certain activities between the two companies and that ‘the opportunity for further discussions with Hybrigenics would be carefully evaluated by the board of directors of Bone Therapeutics, taking into account the interests of its shareholders and other stakeholders.’

In its announcement, Hybrigenics said that it had informally approached Bone Therapeutics early in 2020 highlighting the many possible synergies between the two companies, but was at that time ‘surprised’ by an end to discussions.

It added that the decision to renew proposals was based on the conviction  that ‘a merger of certain activities of the two companies would create additional value for the shareholders’ as the technologies developed by both companies ‘are very complementary (allogeneic and autologous approaches to the use of stem cells) and address markets with fairly similar issues’.

Bone Therapeutics’ portfolio includes cell therapies for pre-clinical programs in immunomodulation to mid stage clinical development for orthopedic conditions. Its core technology is based around its allogeneic cell and gene therapy platform with differentiated bone marrow sourced Mesenchymal Stromal Cells (MSCs.

Hybrigenics and its subsidiaries make up the DMS Biotech Division of the Diagnostic Medical Systems Group, leading strategy development in the fields of biotechnology, oncology, regenerative medicine and anti-aging medicine. It is focused on the use of adipose tissue cells and particularly stem cells, for development of therapy solutions.

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