On July 7, 2022 Scilex Holding Company ("Scilex"), a nearly 100% (or over 99.9%) majority-owned subsidiary of Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: SRNE, "Sorrento"), a commercial biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing non-opioid therapies for patients with acute and chronic pain, reported that it has entered a term sheet to acquire Ancora Medical Inc. ("Ancora"), a privately held medical technology company with anchoring catheter and needle combo technology that was approved by the FDA in February 2020 (Press release, Sorrento Therapeutics, JUL 7, 2022, View Source [SID1234616540]).
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The Ancora Nerve Block Catheter Set is indicated for surgical pain management during the pre-operative, perioperative and post-operative periods associated with general and orthopedic surgery. The device allows physicians to locate peripheral nerves by transferring electrical impulses from a nerve stimulator and/or through ultrasound visualization of the device. The catheter may remain in dwelling for up to 72 hours (Section 510k Number: K191290).
The global continuous peripheral nerve block catheter market is estimated to surpass $740.7 million by 2027.1 Increasing incidence of trauma and accidental injuries is expected to propel growth of the global continuous peripheral nerve block, according to Coherent Market Insights 2020.1 This market also has additional opportunity in different segments of the market such as interventional pain clinics and ambulatory surgical.1 These segments are fast growing and Ancora’s technology has the potential to offer increased efficiency and a reduction in procedural cost and the high usage of opioid treatments.
The global needle market will reach $8.47 billion by 2022 and $15.9 billion by 2026 and the nerve block needle market is valued at $600 million.2 According to Reportlinker.com February 2022, the growth in the medical needles market is primarily driven by factors including the rise in incidence of infectious diseases, prevalence of chronic diseases such as cancer and diabetes, and surgery volumes and increasing prevalence of spine-related disorders and an aging population. Other factors impacting demand include advancements in product designs, favorable demographic trends, increased emphasis on preventing hospital-acquired infections, and improving healthcare infrastructure and services across developing countries.
"We are pleased to enter into the proposed transaction and are confident that Scilex is the ideal fit to build the AnCora franchise given their commitment to and proven track record of expanding patient access to non-opioid options," said Chunyuan Qiu, M.D., Chief Executive Officer of Ancora.
"We believe the Ancora technology has tremendous potential as a platform and in pain management. With the proposed transaction, we continue to move toward our goal for 2022 to build out our non-opioid product portfolio, by acquisitions, in-licensing, and internal product development," said Henry Ji, Ph.D., Executive Chairman of Scilex and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Sorrento.
"We are excited to announce this proposed transaction, which is highly complementary to our product portfolio and underscores our corporate mission to provide opioid alternatives to as many patients as possible," said Jaisim Shah, Chief Executive Officer of Scilex. "We believe the Ancora catheter and needle system has significant growth opportunity given the key role it can play in the management of pain with a non-opioid multimodal regimen that can help mitigate or even eliminate the use of opioids for managing pain before, during and after surgery. We will be working to leverage our commercial infrastructure, market access partnership network, including our substantial commercial collaboration with Sorrento, and deep domain expertise to drive widespread adoption of this exciting treatment."
Scilex’s acquisition of Ancora is subject to execution of a definitive agreement, which will contain customary closing conditions. This proposed acquisition builds upon the Scilex’s strategy to create a global company and would add to the sales and marketing capabilities of the company.
Scilex Holding Company and Vickers Vantage Corp. I (Nasdaq: VCKA) ("Vickers"), a special purpose acquisition company sponsored by Vickers Venture Fund VI Pte Ltd and Vickers Venture Fund VI (Plan) Pte Ltd, have entered into a definitive business combination agreement ("BCA") on March 17, 2022. Upon the closing of the transaction, the combined company (the "Combined Company") will be renamed Scilex Holding Company, and its common stock and warrants to purchase common stock are expected to be listed on Nasdaq under the ticker symbols "SCLX" and "SCLXW", respectively. The boards of directors of each of Vickers, Scilex and Sorrento have unanimously approved the proposed transaction. The closing of the transaction, which is expected to occur by the third quarter of 2022, is subject to the approval of Vickers’s shareholders and the satisfaction or waiver of certain other customary closing conditions.