Tokai Pharmaceuticals and Otic Pharma Enter into Share Purchase Agreement

Tokai Pharmaceuticals and Otic Pharma enter into share purchase agreement.

Tokai Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Otic Pharma Ltd., a privately-held, clinical-stage pharmaceutical company focusing on the development and commercialization of products for disorders of the ear, nose, and throat (ENT), announced that the two companies have entered into a definitive share purchase agreement under which the shareholders of Otic Pharma will become the majority owners of Tokai.

The transaction will result in a NASDAQ-listed company focused on the development and commercialization of products for ENT disorders, including Otic Pharma’s lead candidate which is a nasally-administered, combination drug product (OP-02) intended to address the underlying cause of otitis media and Eustachian tube dysfunction (OM/ETD), a condition that affects more than 700 million people around the world every year.

The company will operate under the name OticPharma, Inc., and will be led by Gregory J. Flesher, current chief executive office of Otic Pharma Ltd. Current president and chief executive officer of Tokai, Jodie Morrison, will remain as a member of the board of directors.

OP-02 is an investigational drug product designed to break the cycle of recurrent and chronic otitis media which affect millions of people around the world. Phase 1 clinical pharmacodynamic data is anticpated in the first half of 2017, according to Otic Pharma, which added that the transaction will provide the capital needed to move directly into phase 2 development.

(Source: Business Wire)