Biocompatibles buys out bead products patent license for US$4.5m

Biocompatibles International (LON:BII) has acquired certain patents, protecting its bead products, in a US$4.5m deal with Biocure Inc. The patents - over DC Bead, LC Bead and Bead Block – have been licensed from Biocure since 2002, with Biocompatible paying a 5% royalty from sales until 2011.

The company said that the deal is expected to be earnings enhancing from the outset. The products covered by the license accounted for sales of £12.7m in 2009.

With today’s deal the company gains ownership over the patents and therefore it is no longer required to pay royalties to Biocure. "I am pleased to announce this transaction, which will improve margins in our Oncology Products division and will be earnings enhancing from the current year", Biocompatibles chief executive Crispin Simon commented.
Additionally, the company noted that the bead products portfolio is also protected by patents, describing further inventions made by Biocompatibles, principally in the field of drug delivery, subsequent to the original licence from Biocure.

Under the terms of the deal, Biocompatibles will pay US$4.5m in total, with the first US$2.5m paid in July 2010, and the remaining US$2.0m due in January 2011. The company said that the 2010 payment is covered in its cash guidance, which was revised on 16 June 2010.

Biocompatibles is a profitable therapeutic delivery devices company. Its main products are implantable beads that block the blood supply to diseased tissues and deliver cytotoxic agents to treat liver cancer.

Biocompatibles’ Oncology Products division supplies medical devices from facilities in Farnham, UK and Oxford, Connecticut. These include drug-eluting bead products which are used in more than 40 countries for the treatment of primary liver cancer (HCC), liver metastases from colorectal cancer, and other cancers; and Brachytherapy products (Radiation-Delivering Seeds) which are used in the treatment of prostate cancer.

The distribution partners include AngioDynamics Inc, Terumo Corporation and Eisai Co Ltd, and Biocompatibles has a clinical collaboration agreement with Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals Inc.

The group’s Licensing Division includes CellMed, in Alzenau, Germany, which is developing a Drug-Eluting Bead product for the treatment of stroke, based on proprietary stem cell technology; a GLP-1 analogue for the treatment of diabetes and obesity partnered with AstraZeneca (LON:AZN); and a cosmetic dermatology bead partnered with Merz Pharmaceuticals GmbH. It also has a PC licensing agreement with Medtronic Inc in the field of drug-rluting stents.