Struggling Swiss biotech Polyphor AG, which has suffered a string of setbacks in the clinic, has been handed a lifeline by negotiating a merger with EnBiotix, Inc. of the US, a privately held rare disease company, which is focused on cystic fibrosis.
The proposed deal with Enbiotix comes at the end of what Polyphor chairman Kuno Sommer described as "an extensive and thorough review of a full range of strategic options," which followed the failure this summer of its lead cancer asset balixafortide in a late-stage trial for breast cancer. A primary analysis of the 432-patient Phase III study, codenamed FORTRESS, showed that a combination of intravenous balixafortide and Eisai Co., Ltd
