MannKind makes $12.5M pharma buy
MannKind Corp., a biotech company based in Westlake Village, announced Dec. 7 that it has acquired a QrumPharma, a privately held biotech company, in a $12.5 million deal.
MannKind has purchased all outstanding capital stock of QrumPharma for $3.5 million in cash and just over 3 million shares of MannKind common stock. At MannKind’s stock price on Dec. 7, the shares are worth around $9 million.
MannKind said it was acquiring QrumPharma for the drugs it has in development, including inhalation treatments for severe chronic and recurrent pulmonary infections, which are expected to enter phase 1 clinical trials in late 2021.
“We have focused on building a stronger pipeline to treat unmet needs for orphan lung diseases, an area where we can leverage our experience and technology to create differentiated therapeutic products,” MannKind CEO Michael Castagna said in a news release announcing the acquisition.
Dr. Thomas Hofmann, who was CEO of QrumPharma, will join MannKind as chief scientific officer. In more than 20 years of work, Dr. Hofmann has helped develop two FDA-approved drugs, MannKind said.
“My team and I are thrilled to be joining forces with the MannKind development team,” Hofmann in MannKind’s statement. “I look forward to leveraging MannKind’s best-in-class technology to bring new therapies to patients with orphan lung diseases.”
