Salix Pharmaceuticals to buy Oceana Therapeutics for $300 million

Salix Pharmaceuticals Ltd yesterday agreed to buy privately held Oceana Therapeutics for $300 million in cash in order to expand products for the treatment of gastrointestinal diseases.

Edison, New Jersey-based Oceana, backed by venture capital and private equity firms of Kelso & Company and Frazier Healthcare Ventures, focuses in the areas of pediatric endocrinology, urology, oncology, gastroenterology, endocrinology, cardiology, and acute care.

The company's Solesta gel, a tissue bulking agent is used for the treatment of bowel incontinence, a common condition that is the impaired ability to control bowel movements, while its Deflux drug is used for the treatment for children with a condition called vesicoureteral reflux, a malformation of the bladder that can cause severe kidney infections and kidney damage.

Solesta is approved and marketed in Europe, while Deflux is approved and marketed in the US and in over 40 countries.

North Carolina-based Salix said sales of Deflux totaled about $26 million in the first nine months of 2011 and believes that peak-year sales for Solesta could exceed $500 million.

Salix develops and markets prescription pharmaceutical products for the treatment of gastrointestinal diseases.

Salix's strategy is to in-license late-stage or marketed proprietary therapeutic drugs, complete any required development and regulatory submission of these products, and market them through the company's gastroenterology specialty sales and marketing team.

"The acquisition of Oceana expands our product portfolio of innovative products, furthers the diversification of Salix's base business and provides immediate added revenue," said Carolyn Logan, president and CEO of Salix.