NEW YORK, Sept. 1, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Merlin Nexus and
New Leaf Venture Partners (NLV Partners) provided comment today
regarding Pfizer Inc's (NYSE: PFE) announcement it had extended the
deadline of its all-cash tender offer for Icagen's (Nasdaq: ICGN)
shares to Thursday, September 1 at
midnight:
"Merlin Nexus and NLV Partners, both stockholders in Icagen,
believe strongly that Pfizer's proposed acquisition of Icagen at
the price of $6 per share greatly
undervalues the potential that we see for Icagen as a whole and for
the company's development pipeline," Dominique Semon, Managing Partner of Merlin
Nexus, and Philippe Chambon,
Managing Director, NLV Partners, commented in a joint statement.
"We are pleased to see that other stockholders agree and
therefore Pfizer has not received sufficient shares to complete its
acquisition of Icagen at the proposed price at this time."
Mr. Semon and Dr. Chambon added, "Merlin Nexus and NLV Partners
continue to oppose the acquisition as proposed at this price, and
we do not intend to tender our Icagen shares to Pfizer under the
current terms."
In the past two months, Merlin Nexus and NLV Partners have
distributed three letters contesting the price of the acquisition
proposed by Pfizer. The most recent letter stated that
although the aggregate value of the proposed transaction is
approximately $56 million, "the true
cost to Pfizer to acquire the company's assets is only $22 million when near-term R&D and milestone
payments as well as the cash Icagen currently owns are put into the
equation. This cost would be even lower if the Pfizer-Icagen
R&D collaboration were renewed after it expires later this
year."
The letter also referenced conservative estimates of the value
of Icagen's pain programs alone at as much as $100-$165 million or $11-$19 a share. In December 2010, Pfizer advanced the first of
Icagen's proprietary compounds (PF-05089771) into a phase I single
dose escalation study, and this trial was expected to have been
completed in March 2011.
According to the letter to Icagen shareholders, "trial data
are open to Pfizer as they are required to monitor safety.
These data provide Pfizer with an unfair advantage not
afforded to all investors to determine the value of this
program."
About Merlin Nexus
Merlin Nexus, based in New
York, is an investment management company focused on
crossover private equity investing in the life sciences industry.
Merlin Nexus invests globally in private and public
healthcare companies and manages several crossover private equity
funds with capital commitments totaling $200
million. Our investor base consists of financial
institutions, funds of funds, family offices and high net worth
individuals.
About NLV Partners
New Leaf Venture Partners is a leader in healthcare technology
venture investing. Our investment professionals bring a
unique blend of technological, clinical, and operational experience
to our investments. We work closely with our entrepreneurs to
help build successful portfolio companies. We focus primarily
on later-stage biopharmaceutical products, early-stage medical
devices, and laboratory infrastructure technologies.
New Leaf currently manages $1.1
billion in assets. This includes our newest fund, New
Leaf Ventures II, L.P., which closed with commitments of
$450 million in October 2007, New Leaf Ventures I, L.P. and the
healthcare technology portfolio of the Sprout Group, one of the
oldest U.S. venture capital fund groups. For more information
please visit http://www.nlvpartners.com.
CONTACT: Media: Justin Jackson,
Burns McClellan on behalf of NLV Partners, +1-212-213-0006,
jjackson@burnsmc.com; Investors/Stockholders: Geoff Sorbello or Patrick McHugh, Okapi Partners LLC,
+1-212-297-0720, info@okapipartners.com
SOURCE New Leaf Venture Partners