Two young Miami-based biopharmaceutical companies, Biscayne Pharmaceuticals and Insero Health, already shared a lead investor and executive chairman, as well as office space on Biscayne Boulevard. On Monday they announced that they merged, giving the combined company two areas of focus.
Biscayne Pharmaceuticals is a clinical-stage company developing therapies for drug-resistant cancers, and its technology is licensed from the University of Miami. Insero Health is focused on treatments for epilepsy, pain and other central nervous system disorders. Dr. Stephen Collins, formerly CEO of Insero Health, has become CEO of Biscayne Pharmaceuticals. Samuel Reich, a Miami Beach healthcare investor who co-founded both Biscayne and Insero Health and most recently was CEO of Biscayne, will retain the position of executive chairman of the combined companies. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed. The combined company, which will be called Biscayne Pharmaceuticals, has about five employees plus contractors.
Insero was co-founded by Harvard neurology professor and epilepsy expert Dr. Steven Schachter, and Biscayne’s cancer program is based on the work of Nobel laureate Dr. Andrew Schally, an endocrine researcher and prolific drug developer, said Reich. “Biscayne now is in the enviable position of having two novel platforms with excellent proprietary protection championed by world class scientists and targeting refractory conditions with major unmet needs,” he added.
