Cypress Bioscience to merge with Ramius and Royalty Pharma

The board of Cypress Bioscience has agreed to be acquired by investment companies Ramius and Royalty Pharma for $6.50 per share, a total value of more than $250 million. In August 2010, Cypress acquired two OINDPs: Staccato nicotine for smoking cessation from Alexza and intranasal carbetocin for the treatment of autism symptoms from Marina Biotech (formerly Nastech). The company says that it plans to begin Phase 1 trials for Staccato nicotine and Phase 2a for the carbetocin product in early 2011. Ramius had made an unsolicited offer for Cypress shortly before those two acquisitions. Read the company’s press release.