Parsippany-based Castle Creek Pharmaceutical Holdings Inc., a company that holds and invests in orphan dermatology companies, announced Thursday it has agreed to acquire Fibrocell Science Inc., a cell and gene therapy company.
Castle Creek said with resources from its subsidiary, Castle Creek Pharmaceuticals LLC, a biopharmaceutical company developing therapies for patients with dermatological conditions, Fibrocell’s gene therapy platform can be used to advance new therapies.
“Our current licensing and development collaboration with Fibrocell, which began in April 2019, has cemented a shared focus on delivering the first approved therapies for families who are impacted by rare dermatologic conditions like epidermolysis bullosa (EB), a chronic, painful and debilitating disease that leads to severe blistering starting early in life and can only be treated with palliative care including extensive bandaging,”,” Greg Wujek, CEO of Castle Creek, said. “As one company, we will be in a strong position to push forward initially with two late-stage clinical development programs targeting different types of EB with investigational gene and topical therapies, and one potential therapy for scleroderma.”
Both companies have advanced investigational therapies for the treatment of multiple types of EB into late stage clinical research.
“Fibrocell’s unique and innovative gene therapy platform provides us with development opportunities that will strengthen the combined company as a leader for EB and other rare conditions where there are limited options for affected patients,” Dr. Mary Spellman, chief medical officer and senior vice president of research and development, Castle Creek, said. “We are truly excited about the future of the new company and the benefits we can bring to patients.”
Financial terms were not disclosed.
