Date: 2012-06-27
Type of information: Company acquisition
Acquired company: Prestizia (France)
Acquiring company: Theradiag (France)
Amount: € 2.5 million
Terms:
- • On December 19, 2017, Theradiag announced the discontinuation of its Prestizia research activity. Prestizia, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Theradiag, works on fundamental research projects with the aim of developing new diagnostic markers using its microRNA platform, in the fields of oncology (rectal and ovarian cancers) and HIV/AIDS. Although recent programs – miCRA and OVAmiR – produced positive results in the identification of microRNA that are relevant and useful in the advancement of science, these are considered insufficiently robust to allow for the creation, industrial production and marketing of new diagnostic kits.
- In addition, Theradiag had received European financial support with its South Korean partners for the collaborative PIONEER project for monitoring rectal cancer, managed by Prestizia. This represented a further step in Prestizia’s developments in rectal cancer and was intended to build on the work already completed in this area. Ultimately, however, the funding for this program was not received and Prestizia’s research efforts in this field could not be continued.
- Given these results from research programs and the loss-making position of the Prestizia subsidiary, which had affected Theradiag’s accounts since 2011, in July 2017 the Board of Directors appointed a specialist life sciences industry consultant to help identify any potential partnership that would allow the continuation of Prestizia’s activity and the continued employment of its employees.
- These discussions with possible partners not having produced concrete results, Theradiag is now obliged to close its Prestizia subsidiary.
- • On June 27, 2012, Theradiag, the theranostics and in vitro diagnostics company focused on autoimmune disease, is acquiring Prestizia, a biotechnology company that is developing a microRNA technology. Prestizia was a subsidiary of the Holding Incubatrice Biotechnology and Pharmacy, presided by Jean-Jacques Bertrand, ex CEO of Aventis-Pasteur. Since its inception, Prestizia has collaborated with the University of Montpellier 2 and the CNRS. Prestizia has acquired an exclusive worldwide license on a patent for a method of characterizing HIV cell tropism. Prestizia’s technology is based on the identification of microRNA signatures. This technology could pave the way for a large number of clinical applications, including the possibility of patients eligible to a treatment for viral diseases including HIV or differentiating types of cancerous tumors.
- The first application of this platform is already being developed, in collaboration with the Institut de Génétique Moléculaire de Montpellier (IGMM) [Molecular Genetics Institute of Montpellier] for finalizing a molecular biology test of HIV tropism to be marketed in the near future. It is estimated that there are 2 million people with AIDS (in the EU and US combined), 10% of whom could benefit from new therapeutic molecules like Selsentry. Before a prescription for this drug can be written, an HIV tropism test must be conducted (currently required by the WMA) to determine the type of HIV the patient is infected with, and whether he or she is eligible for treatment.
- Theradiag is already working with this microRNA platform to develop new theranostic tests for various pathologies, including cancers and autoimmune diseases. With the acquisition of Prestizia, Theradiag gains an expert team dedicated to applied research, as well as solid collaboration with academic research and hospital facilities, notably in the areas of autoimmune disease and cancer.
Details:
Related: Diagnostic - Infectious diseases - Cancer - Oncology - Autoimmune diseases
Is general: Yes
