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Clifford Chance advised Bayer HealthCare on the sale of a molecular imaging portfolio to Piramal

20 April 2012

Clifford Chance advised Bayer HealthCare on the sale of a molecular imaging portfolio to Piramal

Clifford Chance advised Bayer HealthCare AG on the sale of a portfolio of molecular imaging substances from Bayer Pharma AG. The buyer is Piramal Imaging SA, a subsidiary of Piramal Healthcare Ltd.

The portfolio sold comprises all PET tracer substances developed for in-vivo diagnostics, including the PET tracer (a substance marked by a radionuclide) florbetaben. Florbetaben is a late-stage investigational PET tracer currently in development for the detection of β-amyloid plaques in the brain. These β-amyloid plaques are one of two pathological hallmarks of Alzheimer’s dementia. A Phase III study, aimed at providing histopathological verification that florbetaben can reliably detect β-amyloid, has been completed.

Piramal Imaging will acquire the intellectual property rights of Bayer's PET tracer substances and will apply for the market approval of florbetaben. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2012. Bayer will continue to provide certain services required for the development of florbetaben. The parties agreed on certain milestone and royalty payments; the purchase price was not disclosed.

Piramal is one of India's leading healthcare companies. In the 2011 business year, Piramal realised a consolidated turnover of USD 650 million. With branches in North America, Europe and Asia, the company is also one of the globally leading contract manufacturers. In 2010, Piramal Healthcare sold its local generic-drugs business to Abbott.

With a turnover of EUR 17.2 billion (realized in 2011), Bayer HeathCare, a sub-group of Bayer AG, is one of the world's leading innovative healthcare companies manufacturing pharmaceutical and medical products.

The Clifford Chance team comprised partner Dr. Christoph Witte (Corporate) and associate Christian Hübner (Corporate/Healthcare) - both Düsseldorf.