BioWorld International Correspondent

LONDON - The gene therapy company Eurogene Ltd. acquired OY Quattrogene Ltd., of Kuopio, Finland, in an all-share deal, and said the merged company will change its name to Ark Therapeutics Ltd.

Alan Boyd, Eurogene business development director, told BioWorld International, "This merger brings us several things. Quattrogene has a range of products in development, including EG009 for the treatment of malignant glioma, which is in Phase II, it has a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility for DNA and viral vector production, and it brings considerable expertise." The merged company will have 50 researchers with experience in nine human gene therapy trials.

Boyd said Eurogene took the opportunity of the merger to change its name because there are 13 eponymous organizations and companies, though none is in the same field.

Ark Therapeutics will be based in London, and Nigel Parker, CEO of Eurogene, will retain that position. Quattrogene's chairman, Seppo Yla-Herttuala, will become director of gene therapy.

No financial details of the merger were disclosed. Eurogene received initial funding of £3 million (US$4.4 million) when it was set up in 1997, and raised £15 million in a private funding round in May 2000. The merged company has some money but Boyd said, "Clearly we now need to look at the financial strategy going forward. There will need to be fund raising in some form." Ark also intends to develop contract gene vector manufacturing services.

Data from the first trial of EG009, published in December, showed life expectancy of patients with malignant glioma was doubled. "This is a significant treatment and has attracted a lot of attention from experts," Boyd said. The product consists of a herpes simplex vector carrying genes for the enzyme thymidine kinase, which activate an injected prodrug to a toxic form at the site of the tumor.

In addition, the merger will give Eurogene access to the Finnish National Gene Therapy Centre at the University of Kuopio, although there will be no formal relationship.