Eyecare giant Alcon has bought a majority stake in cell therapy startup Aurion Biotech, replacing the company's chief executive, in the culmination of a months-long struggle for control.

眼科护理巨头爱尔康已收购细胞治疗初创公司 Aurion Biotech 的多数股权，取代了该公司的首席执行官，这是长达数月的控制权争夺战的高潮。

In a statement, Alcon said it plans for Aurion to continue as a standalone company, with its backing, as it prepares to advance its lead cell therapy programme into a phase 3 trial called CLARA in the autumn. The therapy – codenamed AURN001 – is being developed as a treatment for corneal oedema secondary to corneal endothelial disease..

阿尔康公司在一份声明中表示，随着公司准备在今年秋季将其主要的细胞治疗项目推进到名为CLARA的第三阶段试验，它计划让Aurion在公司的支持下继续作为一家独立公司运营。该疗法代号为AURN001，正被开发用于治疗由角膜内皮疾病引起的角膜水肿。

Alcon's move follows a fractious few months between the two companies which led to the filing of a lawsuit last November by Alcon – which at the time held an approximately 40% stake in the startup – seeking veto rights to prevent it following through with an initial public offering (IPO).

Alcon 的这一举措是在两家公司经历了数月的纷争之后，去年十一月，Alcon（当时持有这家初创公司约40%的股份）提起诉讼，寻求否决权以阻止其进行首次公开募股 (IPO)。

A judge subsequently sided with Aurion, dismissing Alcon's assertion that it had the right to block the IPO as a major stakeholder. Aurion and other investors – notably Deerfield Management which owned around a third of the company – claimed that Alcon was trying to block the IPO so it could gain control of the company at a knockdown price..

随后，法官支持了奥里昂的立场，驳回了爱尔康作为主要股东有权阻止首次公开募股（IPO）的说法。奥里昂和其他投资者——尤其是持有公司约三分之一股份的迪尔菲尔德管理公司——声称爱尔康正试图阻止首次公开募股，以便能以低价获得公司的控制权。

Fast forward to now, and Alcon appears to have all but achieved its objective, ousting Aurion's chief CEO Greg Kunst and replacing him with Arnaud Lacoste, who was previously chief scientific officer of the biotech and is a co-founder.

快进到当下，爱尔康似乎已经几乎实现了其目标，将极光生物的首席执行官格雷格·孔斯特赶下台，并用阿尔诺·拉科斯特取而代之，后者曾是这家生物技术公司的首席科学官，也是该公司的联合创始人。

In a Linkedin post, Lacoste said he was 'excited to share the news' that Alcon had acquired majority interest, adding: 'We founded Aurion four years ago, with the hope that we would eliminate a form of blindness that affects millions of patients worldwide. With Alcon's support we are one giant step closer to delivering on that goal.'.

在领英的帖子中，拉科斯特表示他“很兴奋地分享这个消息”，即爱尔康已经收购了公司的多数股权。他补充道：“我们四年前创立了 Aurion，希望可以消除一种影响全球数百万患者的眼盲问题。在爱尔康的支持下，我们在实现这一目标的道路上迈出了一大步。”

Alcon said that its majority stake means that Aurion will have 'broader R&D, regulatory, medical ophthalmic and commercial capabilities' at its disposal as it develops AURN001, which aims to become an alternative to corneal replacement using donor tissue, which is perennially in short supply around the world..

阿尔康表示，其拥有的多数股权意味着Aurion在研发AURN001时将拥有“更广泛的研發、监管、眼科医学和商业能力”，该药物旨在成为使用供体组织进行角膜移植的替代方案，而供体组织在全球范围内常年供不应求。

The cell therapy – which consists of allogeneic human corneal endothelial cells (neltependocel) and a rho kinase inhibitor (Y-27632) – has already been approved for marketing in Japan, its first market, as a treatment for corneal disorder

这种细胞疗法——由同种异体人角膜内皮细胞（neltependocel）和rho激酶抑制剂（Y-27632）组成——已经在日本作为首个市场获批上市，用于治疗角膜疾病。

bullous keratopathy

大疱性角膜病

.

。

'Dr Lacoste and the Aurion team have done tremendous work and their technology is a natural fit as we continue to expand our ophthalmic pharmaceutical portfolio,' commented Alcon's CEO David Endicott.

“拉科斯特博士和Aurion团队做出了巨大的贡献，随着我们不断扩展眼科药物组合，他们的技术无疑是非常契合的，”爱尔康首席执行官大卫·恩迪科特评论道。

'We recognise the exciting potential of cell therapies in ophthalmology…and look forward to assisting Aurion in this promising area of patient care,' he added.

“我们认识到细胞疗法在眼科领域的令人兴奋的潜力……并期待协助Aurion在这一充满希望的患者护理领域，”他补充道。

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