For $300 million upfront, Bayer is purchasing Perfuse Therapeutics to advance an eye implant for glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy, marking the company’s first pharma acquisition since 2021.
After abstaining from acquisitions for almost five years, Bayer is once again bringing out the checkbook, this time with an eye toward boosting its ophthalmology portfolio. Wednesday, the pharma moved to absorb Perfuse Therapeutics and its drug candidate for glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy.
Bayer is fronting $300 million for the deal and promising certain developmental, regulatory and commercial milestones. All told, the acquisition value could reach $2.45 billion, according to a press announcement. The companies did not specify when they expect the transaction to close.
Perfuse’s only asset is PER-001, an intravitreal implant designed to provide sustained doses of a small-molecule endothelin receptor blocker. The endothelin cascade is involved in vasoconstriction—the process by which blood vessels tighten to restrict the flow of blood. Excessive endothelin levels can starve cells and lead to organ damage, including in the eyes, according to Perfuse’s website.
Leveraging this mechanism, PER-001 is in mid-stage development for open-angle glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy. But Perfuse is also positioning the drug, a small molecule endothelin receptor antagonist, as a potential therapy for dry age-related macular degeneration and retinal vein occlusion. This program is still in the very early stages of development.
Once the acquisition closes, Bayer will have full rights over PER-001, though the pharma has yet to provide a more detailed plan for how it plans to take the asset forward.
The last time Bayer did a drug-driven takeover was in August 2021, when it swallowed Vividion Therapeutics for $1.5 billion. Under Bayer, Vividion continued to operate as an independent subsidiary and advanced the STAT3 blocker VVD-130850 for solid tumors and hematologic cancers. Bayer pulled the plug on this asset in November 2025, according to reporting from Fierce Biotech.
Other notable pharma purchases from Bayer in the past include Asklepios BioPharmaceutical for up to $4 billion in October 2020 and KaNDy Therapeutics for $875 million in August 2020.
