Venture Life Group (AIM:VLG) PLC said it has acquired a series of oncology support product assets from Helsinn Healthcare, a Swiss cancer support firm, for around 6mln Swiss francs (£4.7mln).
The maker of products for the self-care market said the purchase is comprised of three on-market products within the oncology support area, as well as all associated intellectual property and customer relationships.
The products consist of Gelclair, an oral rinse gel used to manage the painful symptoms of oral mucositis, a side effect of some cancer therapies; Pomi-T, a food supplement used to manage prostate-specific antigen levels in prostate cancer; and Xonrid, a gel used for the prevention and treatment of radiation-induced dermatitis.
Venture Life said that for the year to December 31, 2020, the three brands generated gross profits of £1.3mln on sales of £2.5mln, although it said revenues were impacted by the pandemic and expected income from the brands to benefit from the easing of the effects of COVID-19 and a return of oncology treatments to pre-COVID levels.
“The board believes that there is a sizeable opportunity to expand the Brands' geographical footprint via [Venture Life Group (AIM:VLG)’s (VLG)] existing relationships with many of the Brands' current partners as well as cross-selling within the current VLG business. The board also considers that there is a further opportunity to develop additional new products for this nascent oncology support category within VLG,” the company said.
Venture Life will pay half of the cost of the purchase on completion while the rest of the cost will be paid 12 months later. The acquisition will be funded through cash reserves as well as the company’s credit facility announced on June 21.
"I am delighted to announce another acquisition in pursuit of our progressive strategy to develop the group through selective acquisitions of exciting and immediately earnings enhancing assets. Oncology support has been an area of interest in recent years for VLG as a potential growth area in an under-served market. Oncology patients and their healthcare practitioners look for products that provide effective relief from the painful side effects of oncology treatments,” Venture Life chief executive Jerry Randall said in a statement.
“The Brands we are acquiring are well established Brands, backed by good clinical data and already have meaningful revenues in many countries. We believe we can broaden the portfolio and offering, leveraging our in-house capabilities and expertise in medical devices and our geographic reach. Gelclair is partnered in 40 countries already and we have existing relationships with some of its partners. There is the opportunity to further expand its geographic footprint and recently a new Japanese partner has achieved registration and is expected to launch the product in 2021. Pomi-T is less widely distributed, in 22 countries, as it was only launched in 2017, but again we believe there is a good opportunity to expand this interesting product further geographically. The addition of the Brands to the group brings meaningful additional revenue and profitability for the future," the CEO added.