Actinogen buys Corticrine, pursues dementia treatment

Biotech firm Actinogen has signed an agreement to buy pharmaceutical company Corticrine for about $5.75 million, which focuses on the development of treatments for disease modification and prevention in Alzheimer’s dementia.

Subject to shareholder approval, Actinogen will issue 125 million new shares and undertake a $2 million capital raising as part of the transaction.

At its current share price of 4.6 cents, the deal is worth $5.75 million.

Actinogen said the transaction would transform it into a clinical stage company with an asset that has the potential to produce a treatment for the disease.

“According to the World Health Organisation, 18 million people are affected globally with Alzheimer’s,” Actinogen said in a statement.

“The market could possibly surpass $US20 billion ($A21.39 billion) with the approval of the new drug.”

Corticrine is a spin-out company from Edinburgh BioQuarter, the commercialisation arm of the College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine of the University of Edinburgh in the United Kingdom.

Post the acquisition, the University of Edinburgh would own about 11 per cent of Actinogen.

Actinogen’s share price rose by 15 per cent to 4.6 cents per share at 10:30am.