Altamira Therapeutics Announces Divestiture of Inner Ear Development Assets
21 Octubre 2022 - 7:47AM
- Definitive agreement to sell 90%
stake in Company’s Zilentin subsidiary with option to acquire all
of Altamira’s remaining inner ear development assets in Q4
2022
- Company to receive immediate cash
payment of $2 million, $25 million second upfront payment upon
option exercise, and potential milestone payments of up to $55
million and future royalties
- Buyer is a European family office
seeking to continue and expand Altamira’s projects in hearing loss,
tinnitus, and vertigo
- Transaction represents important
first step in Altamira’s strategy to focus solely on RNA
delivery
- Company actively working towards
divestiture of BentrioTM before year-end
Altamira Therapeutics Ltd. (NASDAQ:CYTO), a company dedicated to
developing therapeutics that address important unmet medical needs,
today announced that it has entered into an agreement regarding the
sale of certain of its legacy assets comprised of its inner ear
therapeutics research and development programs and a license to use
its RNA delivery technology in certain inner ear applications to a
European family office (the “Buyer”), in a multi-step process.
This divestiture is in line with the Company’s previously stated
intention to divest or spin off its legacy assets in order to focus
on its patented platform for RNA delivery; it was unanimously
approved by Altamira’s Board of Directors as being in the best
interest of shareholders.
In a first step, the Buyer has agreed to acquire 90% of the
share capital of Altamira’s subsidiary Zilentin Ltd., Zug
(Switzerland) for immediate cash consideration of $1 million.
Zilentin has been active in the research for novel, second
generation tinnitus treatments in collaboration with leading
academic partners (project AM-102). At the closing of such initial
acquisition (expected on or about October 28, 2022), Zilentin will
purchase from Altamira, for immediate cash consideration of another
$1 million, an option that entitles Zilentin to acquire Altamira’s
remaining legacy assets in inner ear therapeutics, including AM-101
(tinnitus), AM-111 (hearing loss) and AM-125 (vertigo), for an
upfront payment of $25 million in cash upon exercise.
The option may be exercised for 30 days; during this period,
Altamira will take certain preparatory steps for the transfer of
its four additional inner ear related subsidiaries and their staff
to Zilentin. Beyond the 30 days, Zilentin will have a right of
first refusal to acquire these companies until December 31, 2022
with the $25 million option-exercise payment increasing by $1
million per month. The option period is designed to allow Buyer and
Altamira to work out the details surrounding the transaction
structure and the organizational separation.
Upon Zilentin acquiring the full portfolio of Altamira’s inner
ear development assets, Altamira will be entitled to receive
milestone payments of up to $55 million as well as royalties. The
milestones relate to certain development or regulatory milestones,
including:
- the opening of an IND, a successful
Phase 3 and regulatory approval for AM-125 in vertigo ($25
million)
- the regulatory approval of AM-101 in
acute inner ear tinnitus ($10 million)
- the regulatory approval of AM-111 in
acute inner ear hearing loss ($10 million)
- the grant of a license for
Altamira’s RNA delivery technology to Zilentin for certain targets
in inner ear disorders ($10 million upfront plus a mid-single digit
percentage in royalties on future revenues generated from the sale
of drug products making use of the technology)
Within six months, it is planned that Altamira’s CEO, Thomas
Meyer, will become the CEO of the Zilentin Group while also
continuing to serve as the principal executive of Altamira together
with the current RNA leadership team.
“We are excited to take this important first step in the
execution of our strategy of becoming a ‘pure play’ RNA delivery
technology company,” commented Thomas Meyer, Altamira Therapeutics’
founder, Chairman and CEO. “While there is a high unmet need and
great potential for innovative treatments in inner ear disorders,
we consider the future development of our programs in this
therapeutic area to be better placed with a different type of
owner. We are glad to hand them over to a long-term oriented family
office that has a strong entrepreneurial spirit and is passionate
about developing effective and safe treatments for common health
problems like tinnitus, hearing loss and vertigo.”
Apart from divesting its inner ear therapeutics portfolio,
Altamira is also actively working towards the divestiture of its
other legacy asset, the Bentrio nasal spray, in the OTC consumer
health sector. Based on the progress achieved to date in a
structured divestiture process, the Company remains confident to
meet its objective of completing a Bentrio transaction before
year-end.
About Altamira TherapeuticsAltamira
Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CYTO) is dedicated to developing therapeutics
that address important unmet medical needs. The Company is
currently active in three areas: the development of RNA
therapeutics for extrahepatic therapeutic targets (OligoPhore™ /
SemaPhore™ platforms; preclinical), nasal sprays for protection
against airborne allergens and, where approved, viruses (Bentrio™;
commercial) or for the treatment of vertigo (AM-125; post Phase 2),
and the development of therapeutics for intratympanic treatment of
tinnitus or hearing loss (Keyzilen® and Sonsuvi®; Phase 3). Founded
in 2003, it is headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda, with its main
operations in Basel, Switzerland. For more information,
visit: https://altamiratherapeutics.com/
Forward-Looking StatementsThis press release
may contain statements that constitute "forward-looking statements"
within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and
Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking
statements are statements other than historical facts and may
include statements that address future operating, financial or
business performance or Altamira Therapeutics' strategies or
expectations. In some cases, you can identify these statements by
forward-looking words such as "may", "might", "will", "should",
"expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "estimates",
"predicts", "projects", "potential", "outlook" or "continue", or
the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology.
Forward-looking statements are based on management's current
expectations and beliefs and involve significant risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual results, developments and
business decisions to differ materially from those contemplated by
these statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are
not limited to, the closing of the initial sale of 90% of Zilentin,
the exercise by Zilentin of its option to purchase additional
legacy assets, the achievement by Altamira of the milestones set
forth in the option agreement, Altamira’s ability to complete a
divestiture transaction of Bentrio, the approval and timing of
commercialization of AM-301, Altamira Therapeutics' need for and
ability to raise substantial additional funding to continue the
development of its product candidates, the timing and conduct of
clinical trials of Altamira Therapeutics' product candidates, the
clinical utility of Altamira Therapeutics' product candidates, the
timing or likelihood of regulatory filings and approvals, Altamira
Therapeutics' intellectual property position and Altamira
Therapeutics' financial position, including the impact of any
future acquisitions, dispositions, partnerships, license
transactions or changes to Altamira Therapeutics' capital
structure, including future securities offerings. These risks and
uncertainties also include, but are not limited to, those described
under the caption "Risk Factors" in Altamira Therapeutics' Annual
Report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2021, and in
Altamira Therapeutics' other filings with the SEC, which are
available free of charge on the Securities Exchange Commission's
website at: www.sec.gov . Should one or more of these
risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying
assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially
from those indicated. All forward-looking statements and all
subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements attributable
to Altamira Therapeutics or to persons acting on behalf of Altamira
Therapeutics are expressly qualified in their entirety by reference
to these risks and uncertainties. You should not place undue
reliance on forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements
speak only as of the date they are made, and Altamira Therapeutics
does not undertake any obligation to update them in light of new
information, future developments or otherwise, except as may be
required under applicable law.
CONTACTInvestors@altamiratherapeutics.com800-460-0183
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