VISCHER advises Versantis on its sale to Gentif

Versantis, a private Swiss-based clinical stage biotechnology company focused on addressing the growing unmet medical needs in liver diseases, is to be sold to Genfit.

With this acquisition, Genfit intends to expand its product portfolio with a Phase 2 ready programme based on first-in-class scanning liposome technology, a paediatric programme focused on urea cycle disorder or an early-stage programme focused on hepatic encephalopathy. The terms of the agreement include a payment of CHF 40 million, a total of CHF 65 million of potential additional payments based on the success of clinical and regulatory milestones, and one-third of the net proceeds from the potential sale of a priority review voucher, if granted by the FDA.

VISCHER is assisting Versantis. The team is led by partner Matthias Staehelin (pictured right) with partner Christian Wyss (pictured left), Vincent Reardon (managing associate) and associate Pauline Pfirter (all corporate) as well as partner Christoph Niederer and associate Veysel Oruclar (both tax).