A subsidiary of Jazz Pharmaceuticals has acquired 100% of the shares of Alizé Pharma II. This all-cash transaction closed in March 2016. The deal is valued at up to €18 million ($20.4 million), including an upfront payment of €8 million and potential payments of up to €10 million related to regulatory milestones. The transaction did not involve the transfer of any employees from the Alizé Pharma group to Jazz Pharmaceuticals.

Alizé Pharma II was created in 2008. Prior to the closing of this transaction, its shareholders were TAB Consulting, Octalfa, CEMA and Sham Innovation Santé. The company’s lead assets are pegcrisantaspase (Asparec), a PEGylated recombinant L-asparaginase from Erwinia chrysanthemi, and related intellectual property. In February 2012, Alizé Pharma II announced that it had licensed these assets to EUSA Pharma, which was subsequently acquired by Jazz Pharmaceuticals.

“We are very pleased with this transaction with Jazz Pharmaceuticals following our productive collaboration under the license agreement. It is in line with our business strategy, which is to develop promising clinical assets and divest them to the industry, whilst ensuring the sustainability of our drug development team and organization,” said Thierry Abribat, manager, TAB Consulting, president and founder, Alizé Pharma Group. “I wish to thank our team, our board members and our investors who have actively contributed to this project. We will pursue our efforts to further build and grow a successful group of biotech companies with increasing focus on endocrine and metabolic diseases.”

“On behalf of the Alizé Pharma Board and investors, we would like to congratulate Thierry and his team for this achievement, bringing Asparec from concept to clinical-stage product, then partnering and divesting assets in a timely and effective way,” said Gilles Alberici, president of initiative Octalfa and board member of Alizé Pharma. “This transaction further strengthens our commitment to support the Alizé Pharma Group in its next stage of development.”

Alizé Pharma is a group of companies specialized in the development of innovative biopharmaceutical drugs, proteins and peptides for the treatment of metabolic diseases and rare diseases. The group is managed by a team of drug development experts and by a board of directors with a breadth of international experience. Its business strategy is to advance programs based on medical innovation to the clinical stage and establish partnerships with pharmaceutical companies to secure both short and long-term revenue streams. Since its creation, the group has raised over €15 million from private and institutional investors.