Exton cell and gene therapy company Fibrocell will be acquired for $63.3M

Cell and gene therapy company Fibrocell Science, Inc. announced last week that it will be purchased in a deal for $63.3 million.

Castle Creek Pharmaceutical Holdings will acquire the Exton-based company, which focuses on transformational autologous (that is, obtained from the same individual) cell-based therapies for skin and connective tissue diseases, and the deal is slated to be finalized by the end of the year, a release said.

Fibrocell currently has two product candidates: the FCX-007 and the FCX-013. The FCX-007 is an investigational, late-stage stage gene therapy product candidate for the treatment of recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB). And the FCX-013 product works toward the treatment of moderate to severe localized scleroderma, a chronic connective tissue disease that causes of hardening of the skin and tissue below.

These two product candidates will augment Castle Creek’s CCP-020, an investigational, late-stage topical ointment under development for the treatment of epidermolysis bullosa simplex, a genetic disease that leads to extremely fragile skin and severe blistering.

The acquisition total of $63.3 million includes the cost of the company, repaying its debt and all other financial instruments. Fibrocell stockholders will receive an all-cash consideration of $3 per share, the company said in a statement.

“Our experience working together on rare dermatological conditions caused us to quickly realize that Castle Creek and Fibrocell could achieve even greater synergies by combining the companies into one,” said Greg Wujek, CEO of Castle Creek.

Fibrocell’s employees will become employees of the combined company once the deal is complete, the company said. Fibrocell will become a privately held subsidiary of Castle Creek Pharmaceutical Holdings.

“We believe that combining with Castle Creek has a strong strategic rationale, as they have the expertise and resources necessary to continue the development of both FCX-007 and FCX-013, potentially bringing these and additional novel products to patients in need,” John Maslowski, Fibrocell president and CEO said.

Fibrocell has 19 employees, according to the Philadelphia Business Journal.

In other recent M&A news: Another Exton-based company, insurance software firm iPipeline, announced its own acquisition for $1.6 billion in August, and Roche, the dealmaker behind the $4.8 billion purchase of University City-based life sciences company Spark Therapeutics — confirmed to be the biggest-ever VC-backed exit in Philly — announced in July that it had extended the sale until next year.