Jazz Pharmaceuticals to buy Celator Pharmaceuticals

Jazz Pharmaceuticals will pay $1.5 billion in cash to acquire Celator Pharmaceuticals and its lead cancer drug Vyxeos. The deal fits Jazz’s business model of in-licensing products and acquiring companies in the areas of sleep, pain, hematology, and oncology.

Vyxeos is a nanoscale liposomal formulation of the decades-old chemotherapy drugs cytarabine and daunorubicin. Encapsulation maintains a synergistic 5:1 ratio of the drugs and helps deliver them preferentially to cancer cells, a strategy that may increase efficacy and reduce toxicity, Celator says.

In mid-May, FDA awarded breakthrough therapy designation to Vyxeos for treating adults with certain forms of acute myeloid leukemia (AML). FDA had previously designated Vyxeos as an orphan drug and given it fast-track status. Celator anticipates filing for approval next quarter.

AML is the most common form of leukemia in adults and has a poor prognosis even with treatment. According to the companies, Vyxeos is the first candidate in about 20 years to show a statistically significant improvement in survival.

Jazz’s big bet on Celator comes just one month after another prominent nanomedicine firm, Bind Therapeutics, filed for bankruptcy while trying to advance its cancer-cell-targeting polymeric nanoparticles.