Bontan Corporation Inc. signed letter of intent with Portage Pharma Ltd., a private limited company incorporated in the British Virgin Islands, with the purpose to acquire all the issued and outstanding shares of the BVI company for approximately 81.7 million shares of Bontan. 71.4 million shares of Bontan will be reserved for the shareholders of Portage to be issued as warrants and options.
Portage Pharma is a biotechnology company engaged in researching and developing products through to proof of concept with an early focus on unmet clinical needs and orphan drugs. Portage would look to sell or licence the products to Big Pharma. The BVI company is the holder a master licence to the Antennapedia platform for all pathologies (except oncology).
Closing of the proposed transaction between Bontan and Portage Pharma is expected to be completed by April 15, 2013, and is subject to the completion of due diligence, execution of a definitive agreement and other approvals.
Dr. Declan Doogan, the Chairman of Portage, stated in his comments: "Portage represents a significant opportunity to bring exciting new medicines to the market. Using the strong scientific, medical and drug development expertise in the company we believe we can identify and develop novel approaches utilizing the latest in scientific theory… Bontan provides access to public markets and allows us to proceed expeditiously with our development of the Antennapedia platform while sourcing additional products."
