Lantheus (Nasdaq:LNTH) announced that it acquired Cerveau Technologies, a developer of a positron emission tomography imaging agent for detecting Alzheimer’s disease.
Cerveau develops the MK-6240 second-generation F 18-labeled PET imaging agent. It targets Tau tangles in Alzheimer’s disease.
Bedford, Massachusetts–based Lantheus intends to pay an upfront payment and potential development and commercial milestone payments. It also expects to pay double-digit royalty payments for research revenue and commercial sales.
Lantheus structured the deal as a stock purchase. The agreement specifies that, among other things, the seller will provide transition and clinical development services. These will be offered for a prescribed time following the closing of the transaction. Lantheus declined to disclose further terms of the deal.
“This exciting acquisition aligns with our growth strategy, further diversifying our radiopharmaceutical diagnostic imaging agent pipeline to now include the most widely-used Tau PET imaging agent in Alzheimer’s disease and will provide us with an extensive roster of academic collaborations and pharmaceutical partnerships,” said Etienne Montagut, Lantheus chief business officer.
More about MK-6240
Cerveau’s MK-6240 detects Tau protein in the form of neurofibrillary tangles in the brains of patients with known or suspected Alzheimer’s. It could aid in diagnosing, staging and informing treatment selection and response to therapy for the disease.
Currently — while in clinical development — more than 60 academic and industry clinical trials use MK-6240. More than 16 pharmaceutical companies have late-stage Alzheimer’s therapeutic candidates under development using the agent.
“We are excited at the potential to utilize MK-6240 as a key clinical tool supporting patient care as more therapeutics become available to the healthcare community,” said Rick Hiatt, Cerveau CEO. “With Lantheus’ expertise in radiopharmaceutical diagnostics and ability to scale operations as volume continues to accelerate, there is no doubt that Lantheus is the ideal company to advance research collaborations and patient access towards bringing this leading-edge precision imaging tracer to patients.”
