SYGNIS Pharma AG emerged in 2006 from the takeover of the operational business of BASF’s subsidiary Axaron Bioscience AG by the stock exchange-listed LION bioscience AG. Axaron had been developing CNS drugs for many years and possessed a highly promising pipeline of related product candidates. LION AG, on its part, had sold its operational bio-informatics business in March 2006 and possessed, as apart from the listing on the German stock exchange and its financial resources, a strong understanding of the financial markets.
The transaction took place in two steps: first, Axaron transferred its operational business to SYGNIS Bioscience GmbH & Co. KG. The shares in SYGNIS Bioscience GmbH & Co. KG were then brought in by the Hopp family and BASF AG as an investment in kind in LION AG in exchange for a total of 7,807,535 new bearer shares without par-value. As part of the takeover, the company formerly trading as LION AG changed its name into SYGNIS Pharma AG.
The access to the capital market, together with the company’s existing financial resources, shall be utilized for in-house developments and for product acquisitions that SYGNIS will use to expand its business over the next few years to become an internationally competitive pharmaceutical company specialising in CNS medications.