GenVec to acquire Diacrin

Gene therapy company GNVC will acquire cell transplantation company DCRN in a stock transaction valued at $40.4 million. GNVC will gain DCRN's cash and equivalents, which totaled $44.9 million as of Dec. 31, 2002. The combined company will focus on developing GNVC's TNFerade, a TNF-alpha gene delivered using an adenovirus vector with a radiation-sensitive promoter (EGR-1). TNFerade is in Phase II trials for pancreatic and esophageal cancer.

The company will seek partners for DCRN's human myoblasts, which are in Phase Ib testing for cardiac repair, as well as GNVC's AdPEDF adenovirus vector encoding pigment epithelium-derived factor ( PEDF). AdPEDF is in Phase I testing to treat age-related macular degeneration (AMD). GNVC also has an ongoing vaccine program with the Vaccine Research Center at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) to develop an AIDS vaccine and a program with the U.S. Navy Medical Research Center to develop malaria and dengue virus vaccines. ...