Ferring Pharmaceuticals Acquires Two Phase III Ready Orthobiologic Product Candidates from BioSET

Ferring Pharmaceuticals has acquired the assets of BioSurface Engineering Technologies, Inc. (BioSET), including two phase III ready orthobiologic product candidates designed to improve bone repair. The initial indications for Amplex and Prefix to be investigated are fusion in foot/ankle and lumbar spine surgical procedures, respectively. Both products are based on a unique biomimetic peptide designed to enhance the body’s own natural mechanisms of bone repair.

Orthopaedics has grown to become one of five key therapeutic areas for Ferring since the 2005 launch of Euflexxa (1% sodium hyaluronate) for the treatment for knee pain due to osteoarthritis.

“With the acquisition of the BioSET portfolio, Ferring intends to build on its growing success in orthopaedics,” said Michel Pettigrew, President of the Ferring Executive Board and COO, “By developing new orthobiologic products for joint fusion, we will expand and diversify our offering to include innovative solutions for orthopaedic surgery.”

Each year approximately two million procedures involving bone graft materials, including approximately 700,000 fusions, are performed in the US alone. This number is increasing more than 5% annually as orthopaedic surgeons treat an expanding, ageing population of patients with severe bone degeneration and traumatic defects.

In addition to Amplex and Prefix, Ferring has acquired a library of rationally designed biomimetic peptides intended for applications in bone and tissue repair.