Mesoblast Rises on Plan to Buy Stem-Cell Business: Sydney Mover

Mesoblast Ltd. (MSB) climbed the most in eight months in Sydney trading after agreeing to buy a stem-cell business of Osiris Therapeutics Inc. (OSIR) for as much as $100 million to gain new treatments.

The maker of stem-cell therapies rose as much as 11 percent, the largest advance since Feb. 7, and was up 6.2 percent to A$5.82 as of 11:47 a.m. in Sydney trading.

Mesoblast will buy the mesenchymal stem-cell unit of Osiris, including Prochymal, a treatment for acute graft versus host disease, Columbia, Maryland-based Osiris said in a statement. The price tag includes as much as $50 million in payments if certain trial and regulatory milestones are met, and Osiris may also receive royalties on sales of certain products, Melbourne-based Mesoblast said in a separate statement today.

Prochymal has received conditional approval in Canada and New Zealand for use in children with acute graft versus host disease, and is available under an access program in the U.S. for treating both children and adults, according to Osiriss statement. The illness is a complication that can occur after a stem-cell or bone-marrow transplant in which the newly transplanted donor cells attack the transplant recipients body, according to Medline Plus.

To contact the reporter on this story: Lena Lee in Singapore at llee42@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jason Gale at j.gale@bloomberg.net

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Mesoblast Rises on Plan to Buy Stem-Cell Business: Sydney Mover