Boehringer Ingelheim to purchase Actimis

Boehringer Ingelheim has announced that it has agreed to purchase privately-owned biotechnology company Actimis Pharmaceuticals.

The company will engage in a structured buyout of the firm with shares acquired in Actimis depending on the development milestones of AP768, the leading asthma compound from the company that is currently in phase I of clinical development.

Under the terms of the deal, if AP768 reaches phase III of its development, Boehringer Ingelheim will then own all of the shares in Actimis.

At this point, the total value of the acquisition will be $515 million (264 million pounds), while a more detailed financial breakdown of the agreement was not disclosed.

Dr Andreas Barner, vice-chairman of pharma research, development and medicine at Boehringer Ingelheim, said: “Actimis’ compound provides an innovative addition to Boehringer Ingelheim’s portfolio of development candidates for the potential treatment of respiratory diseases.”

He added that the company has been involved in this area for a number of decades and developed novel drugs, such as Spiriva (tiotropium bromide) to treat patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

In July 2007, Boehringer Ingelheim and Pfizer announced the successful completion of the approval process for the application for marketing authorisation for Spiriva Respimat for COPD patients in the EU.