Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX) said today that it agreed to pay $70 million up front for CeloNova BioSciences‘ interventional radiology business, including its drug-eluting microsphere technology for chemotherapy and spherical embolic products for treating uterine fibroids and other conditions.
The deal also includes an unspecified amount tied to regulatory and sales milestones, Marlborough, Mass.-based Boston Scientific said.
“As we continue to build our interventional oncology business, we expect that the team and technologies included in this acquisition will fuel growth in solutions to treat challenging diseases such as liver cancer, particularly in emerging markets,” peripheral interventions president Jeff Mirviss said in prepared remarks. “More than 700,000 people worldwide are diagnosed with liver cancer each year, and the disease is 1 of the leading causes of cancer deaths in China and many parts of Southeast Asia. These technologies offer tremendous promise to improve the quality of care by reducing both the cost and side-effects associated with traditional treatments.”
“We are confident that the significant clinical scale and commercial reach of Boston Scientific will help expand the value of these innovative technologies, bringing the benefits of these therapies to more patients around the world, which is consistent with CeloNova’s mission to improve the practice of medicine for patients, caregivers and payers,” added CeloNova president & CEO Martin Landon.
Boston Scientific said the agreement includes CeloNova’s Embozene Tandem drug-elutable microspheres for treating liver cancer (which have CE Mark approval in the European Union but are not approved in the U.S.) and the Oncozene and Embozene microspheres for treating hypervascular tumors, arteriovenous malformations and hepatoma. The Oncozene microspheres are also FDA-cleared for an investigational device exemption trial examining their use with doxorubicin. The Solace trial is slated to begin during the 4th quarter, the company said. The Oncozene and Embozene products are already on the market in the U.S.
The deal, which is due to close by the end of the year, is not expected to materially affect adjusted earnings per share this year but should be accretive after that, the company said.