The Swiss group Alcon, specializing in ophthalmology, will spend $ 475 million (410 million euros) to seize the American Ivantis, in order to strengthen itself in glaucoma surgery, he announced. Monday.
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Additional payments may be required depending on certain regulatory and commercial steps, specifies the Swiss group in a press release.
He hopes to finalize the transaction, subject to regulatory approval, in the first quarter of 2022.
Glaucoma as an asset of the portfolio
This buyout will allow him to expand his portfolio in glaucoma surgery.
Ivantis manufactures a micro-stent, called Hydrus, which helps reduce intraocular pressure in patients with open-angle glaucoma in connection with cataract surgery.
"
Glaucoma is the second leading cause of blindness after cataracts, impacting more than 75 million people globally, with significant unmet need for patients,
" said Alcon CEO David Endicott, quoted in the press release.
“
This transaction will allow us to add a product of unique efficacy to our portfolio for glaucoma,
” he added.
According to a clinical study entitled Horizon, 65% of patients operated on with this micro-stent no longer need medication within five years of placing this implant, underlines Alcon, a former subsidiary of pharmaceutical giant Novartis.
Roughly "
the size of an eyelash
", according to the Swiss group, this micro-stent was approved by the United States Medicines Agency in 2018 and has since been authorized in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, in Singapore and Germany.
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Founded in 2007, the Californian company Ivantis develops and markets new technologies for eye diseases.
The company, owned among others by venture capital funds, is not listed on the stock exchange.
In 2019, Novartis separated from its Alcon subsidiary by listing it separately on the stock market.
Specializing in ophthalmology, the group notably manufactures contact lenses and products for retinal and cataract surgery.