PER-001

Bayer is committing $300 million upfront to buy ophthalmology biotech Perfuse Therapeutics and its mid-stage program targeting the leading causes of blindness. The deal appears to be Bayer’s first pharma M&A move since Bill Anderson joined as CEO in mid-2023. He initiated a multi-year reorg, with the conglomerate currently grappling with thousands of lawsuits related to Monsanto. And so, with limited cash for deals, Bayer has said it would avoid splashy purchases and focus on smaller licensing pacts and R&D collaborations for early-stage assets . Wednesday’s acquisition could be worth up to $2.45 billion when factoring in milestones. Perfuse was founded by CEO Sevgi Gurkan , who was previously director of research at Merck Research Labs. It has raised modest amounts of cash totaling $11 million with help from large investors like Lilly Asia Ventures, OrbiMed and Catlio Capital Management, according to PitchBook. Gurkan is also a venture partner at OrbiMed. The Bayer deal is centered on Perfuse’s PER-001, an endothelin receptor antagonist delivered via an intravitreal implant for sustained release. The candidate is currently in Phase 2 development for glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy (DR), which are estimated to affect about 80 million people and 146 million people worldwide, respectively. Both diseases can lead to blindness. The most recent update from Perfuse was in June 2025, when the biotech shared results from two separate Phase 2a trials testing PER-001 in glaucoma and DR. At the time, the company said it planned to advance the candidate into Phase 2b/3 development. In the Phase 2a glaucoma trial, 37.5% of patients given the high-dose treatment saw a minimum 7-decibel improvement in a pre-defined retina region at six months, compared with zero control patients. Decibels are used to measure changes in light sensitivity. In the DR study, patients given the high dose of PER-001 saw an average 0.9-decibel improvement in low luminance contrast sensitivity at five months, compared with a 2.1-decibel worsening for patients in the sham control group. For Bayer, the deal provides an opportunity to bulk up its ophthalmology pipeline as its Regeneron-partnered blockbuster drug Eylea faces biosimilar competition. Eylea is approved for DR with diabetic macular edema and wet age-related macular degeneration. Sales of the medicine were down almost 4% last year at €3.1 billion ($3.51 billion) .

Bayer announced Wednesday an agreement to acquire Perfuse Therapeutics for as much as $2.45 billion, including an upfront payment of $300 million, boosting its ophthalmology pipeline with the addition of an investigational treatment for glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy. Perfuse's lead candidate, PER-001, is a small-molecule endothelin receptor antagonist delivered via an intravitreal implant, allowing for dosing every six months. The therapy has completed Phase II studies in glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy, demonstrating significant improvements in vision compared to control in each trial."We are excited by the work of the team at Perfuse…and encouraged by the potential of PER-001," said Juergen Eckhardt, Bayer's head of business development and licensing.Under the agreed terms, along with the upfront payment, the transaction includes development, regulatory and commercial milestones.Bayer's current ophthalmology product lineup is headed by Eylea (aflibercept), although the anti-VEGF — which was developed by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals — is facing pricing pressure and biosimilar competition.