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| The unfolded Accordion Pill, usually contained within a regular capsule--Courtesy of Intec |
Israeli Parkinson's specialist Intec Pharma and drug delivery device maker EyeGate aim to debut on the NASDAQ this week for a combined $51 million.
Intec is seeking the sale of 4.5 million shares for $8.36 to commercialize its drug delivering Accordion Pill, in a deal valued at $38 million, according to Renaissance Capital.
The pill is for drugs with a narrow absorption window--meaning they can only be absorbed in a particular portion of the gastrointestinal tract--and those that have poor solubility. The outer capsule dissolves in the stomach and the pill unfolds in an accordion-like manner, where it is retained for up to 12 hours. The drug is then continuously absorbed in the upper part of the GI tract, Intec says.
The company is looking for a development partner for Phase III trials for its Accordion Pill candidate to treat Parkinson's disease, and another for its candidate for insomnia, which has also passed Phase II.
In April, local news outlet Globes reported that the company is discussing a partnership involving its drug-delivering Accordion Pill with a Big Pharma player. The deal contains an option that would net Intec up $150 million, in addition to royalties on product sales.
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| EyeGate II Delivery System--Courtesy of EyeGate |
Intec trades on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, where it has a market cap of 194 million shekels ($51.3 million). The company lost 20.3 million shekels ($5.1 million) in 2014.
Buoyed by a partnership with Valeant Pharmaceuticals ($VRX), EyeGate Pharmaceuticals is supposed to raise $13 million by selling 869,566 shares for $15 apiece. The company hoped to debut with a $101 million market cap in September, $53 million market cap in November and $43 million market cap in February, according to Renaissance Capital. Instead it raised $4 million on the over-the-counter market.
But the company's stock has surged to around $20 on the over-the-counter market following its deal with Valeant, under which the Big Pharma player will commercialize and manufacture its delivery system and reformulated, topically active corticosteroid to treat uveitis.
EyeGate touts its delivery system for dexamethasone phosphate as an alternative to complicated intraocular injections and eye drops, which suffer from noncompliance, and says the device can administer the medication into both eyes in about 15 minutes. The EyeGate II Delivery System uses iontophoresis (a low-level electrical current) to deliver specified quantities of drug into the eye.
In addition, EyeGate began dosing its first patients in the combination product's macular edema trial, and recently received a patent for its reformulation of a common eye drop, Renaissance Capital says.
- here's the news from Renaissance Capital