www.asterand.com
Asterand plc is the leading global supplier of high quality, well characterized human tissue and human tissue-based research services to drug discovery scientists. Their mission is to provide human tissues and services to accelerate the identification and validation of drug targets and enhance the selection of drug candidates with an increased likelihood of clinical success.
Asterand extends deadline for potential takeover bids
Asterand (LON:ATD) this morning told investors that it has again extended its deadline for the potential acquirers to submit offers for the company.
It said that it has received strong interest from a number of parties but it was not possible to conclude talks prior to the Christmas break.
A new deadline of January 17 has now been set. This gives the interested parties almost two weeks to submit their proposed offers so that Asterand can potentially announce a recommended offer by the middle of February, the company said.
Asterand added that it continues to update its key creditors on the process and the developments to date.
The company was originally put up for sale in October, after it revealed in August that it would be in breach of its funding covenants in the near future. It has also explored its funding options in recent months.
Operationally the business has revealed positive news in recent months with a significant contract extension with America’s National Cancer Institute (NCI) in November. It has also achieved a research milestone in its drug discovery collaboration with Japanese pharmaceutical firm Ono Pharmaceutical.
The BioSeek subsidiary is applying its BioMAP platform to perform a number of tasks on a drug discovery target selected by Ono.
Under the three-year agreement BioSeek is receiving research funding and is eligible to receive success payments based on the research-phase progress of this collaboration and further milestone payments based on the clinical development-phase progress of a drug candidate discovered under this collaboration.
