September 09, 2015
Contributed Art/Slideshare.net
Wayne-based Medgenics acquires neuroFix Therapeutics, founded by Dr. Hakon Hakonarson, director of CHOP's Center for Applied Genomics.
One year after Wayne-based Medgenics entered into a $5 million research collaboration with Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, the firm has acquired a genomics company founded by the director of the hospital's Center for Applied Genomics.
The $2 million acquisition of neuroFix Therapeutics will provide an opportunity for the company to expand beyond gene therapy to other capabilities in the discipline, according to the Philadelphia Business Journal.
Founded by Dr. Hakon Hakonarson, neuroFIx Therapeutics has been working to commercialize a genetic discovery that underlies its non-stimulant therapies to treat ADHD and the neuropsychiatric symptoms associated with Deletion Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder caused by a missing piece of the 22nd chromosome.
The agreement between the companies allows for neuroFix Therapeutics to receive performance-based milestone payments and sales royalties.
In a public stock offering late last year, Medgenics raised $21 million to bolster its efforts to develop gene therapy treatments for conditions including chronic kidney disease, renal anemia and short bowel syndrome. The company is at work on a proprietary gene therapy that converts a bit of a patient's dermal skin tissue into a biopump that continuously produces and delivers therapeutic proteins.
