Eleven Biotherapeutics Acquires Canada's Viventia Bio

Eleven Biotherapeutics (Cambridge, MA) has acquired Canada's Viventia Bio (Toronto, ON).   The combined company will continue to be named Eleven Biotherapeutics, and Stephen Hurly, formerly Viventia’s chief executive officer, was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of Eleven in connection with the acquisition. Abbie C. Celniker, Eleven’s former President and Chief Executive Officer, will remain a director of Eleven Biotherapeutics.   Eleven’s pipeline now includes Viventia’s lead product candidates based upon antibody fragments genetically fused to cytotoxic proteins, or targeted protein therapeutics (TPTs), Vicinium and Proxinium. Vicinium is in a Phase 3 clinical trial for high grade non-muscle invasive bladder cancer, with topline data expected in the first half of 2018. Proxinium is expected to enter Phase 2 development in early 2017 for the treatment of late-stage squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.