Osiris Therapeutics announced today that it has received $5 million in payment for having reached the first production threshold of the Osteocel supply agreement with NuVasive. In a business deal that was valued at $85 million, Osiris sold Osteocel, its bone matrix product, to the San Diego-based spine specialization company NuVasive Inc. in July of 2008 for an initial payment of $35 million which is to be followed by further payments totalling an additional $50 million when milestones are reached.
According to NuVasive chairman and CEO Alex Lukianov, “Osteocel provides what we believe to be one of the more powerful biologic platforms on the market today.” Osiris CFO Richard Hunt adds, “It is through the hard work and dedication of our Osteocel team that we have achieved the first product supply milestone under the agreement and are solidly on track to hit the remaining milestones. With more than 15 years of rigorous stem cell research and development behind it, today Osteocel stands alone in orthopedics. Along with our excellent partners at NuVasive, we look forward to the product’s continued success.”
A leader in adult stem cell therapies, Osiris Therapeutics is focused on the development of products for the treatment of inflammatory, orthopedic and cardiovascular diseases. One of its proprietary adult stem cell products, Prochymal, is currently in Phase III clinical trials for the treatment of Graft-versus-host disease and Crohn’s disease, and is also being evaluated for the repair of heart attack damage, the protection of pancreatic beta islet cells in patients with type 1 diabetes, and for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Another product, Chondrogen, is currently undergoing evaluation for the treatment of arthritis in the knee. With an extensive intellectual property portfolio containing 47 patents, Osiris has formed a partnership with Genzyme Corp. for the development and commercialization of Prochymal and Chondrogen in countries outside of the U.S. and Canada.