Vistagen to acquire Pherin Pharmaceuticals, bolstering plans for therapeutic development

Vistagen announced it has agreed to acquire Pherin Pharmaceuticals Inc., to bolster its efforts on discovery and development of therapeutics to treat a range of psychiatric and neuropsychiatric conditions.

According to a Vistagen release, the company will acquire Pherin Pharmaceuticals for approximately 12.4 million shares of Vistagen common stock and a nominal amount of cash. Once the sale is complete, Vistagen is slated to gain Pherin’s entire pherine pipeline, including full ownership of intellectual property rights to its two most advanced drug candidates, PH94B — currently in phase 3 development for social anxiety disorder and phase 2 development for adjustment disorder with anxiety — and PH10, in clinical development for major depressive disorder.

“Since 2018, we have observed the experienced Vistagen team working diligently to advance all aspects of development for PH94B and PH10,” Kevin McCarthy, president and CEO of Pherin, stated in the release. “This transaction supports our mutual objective to provide innovative medicines to millions of people suffering from conditions that require better treatment options and represents an important milestone providing potential for significant value creation for patients and our stockholders.”

Vistagen will also expand its pipeline with three new early clinical-stage pherine product candidates: PH15 for cognition improvement, PH80 for migraine and hot flashes, and PH284 for appetite-related disorders, the company said in the release.

“Our confidence in the potential role of pherine compounds in fundamentally shifting the treatment paradigm for individuals living with anxiety, depression and several other disorders with unmet need has never been stronger,” Shawn Singh, CEO of Vistagen, stated in the release.