Bayer announced the acquisition of U.S. eye specialist Perfuse Therapeutics in a deal that could be worth up to $2.45 billion, according to n-tv. The amount includes an upfront payment of $300 million plus additional milestone payments tied to development, regulatory approvals and commercial targets. With the purchase, Bayer acquires full rights to a drug currently in Phase II clinical trials for the treatment of glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy (DR). Perfuse Therapeutics is described as a biopharmaceutical company focused on researching certain eye diseases.
Also reported by n-tv, Curevac founder Ingmar Hoerr accused Biontech of deception following Biontech’s takeover of Curevac. Hoerr told the German Press Agency (dpa) that Biontech’s plans to shut the Tübingen site shortly after the takeover were “totally unfair” and “almost a trick.” He said there had been an agreement to create a joint enterprise that would mutually benefit both parties, but that the agreement had now been “thrown overboard.” Hoerr suggested Biontech might be seeking to circumvent ongoing patent disputes with Curevac. He accused investors of being lulled by promises and said the takeover should never have happened.
n-tv also reports that Gamestop’s chief, Cohen, has made a takeover offer for the online marketplace eBay worth about $56 billion. The proposal would be paid half in cash and half in stock. In an interview on the podcast “TBPN,” Cohen said that if the bid succeeded he planned drastic job cuts at eBay, noting that he “could run this business from my house” and referencing a potential reduction relative to eBay’s 11,500 employees mentioned in the interview. eBay’s most recent figures show 12,300 employees at year-end, of whom 7,200 were in the United States. Cohen spoke of combining the two companies’ shares; details on financing and possible share issuances were not immediately clear.
On energy markets, crude oil prices gave back some recent gains: Brent from the North Sea fell 1.6 percent to $108.07 per barrel (159 liters), while U.S. crude West Texas Intermediate (WTI) declined 1.5 percent to $100.70, n-tv reports.
Source: www.n-tv.de
