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Baxter acquires AesRx, gains NCATS-funded compound

July 10, 2014 1:34 AM UTC

Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) acquired Orphan disease play AesRx LLC (Newton, Mass.), gaining Aes-103, which AesRx was developing with funding from NIH's National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS). Financial terms of AesRx's acquisition are undisclosed but include an upfront payment and milestones. Aes-103 -- an aromatic aldehyde that increases the affinity of sickle hemoglobin for oxygen -- is in Phase II testing to treat sickle cell disease. AesRx gained rights to Aes-103 from Virginia Commonwealth University. Baxter also gained AesRx's Aes-210, a muco-adhesive clotrimazole gel that is in Phase II testing for pouchitis.

NIH said Aes-103 is the first candidate to be acquired that was developed with resources from NCATS's Therapeutics for Rare and Neglected Diseases (TRND) program. According to the agency, AesRx had difficulty securing private funding to complete preclinical and clinical development of Aes-103 prior to its collaboration with TRND researchers (see SciBX: Science-Business eXchange, Jan. 30). ...