Berlin, May 6, 2026, 22:07 CEST
Bayer AG agreed to buy San Francisco-based Perfuse Therapeutics Inc. for as much as $2.45 billion, handing the German group a new eye-drug candidate as pressure builds on some of its older blockbusters. The deal includes $300 million upfront, with the rest tied to development, regulatory and commercial milestones.
The timing matters. Eylea, Bayer’s top-selling pharmaceutical product, brought in €3.11 billion in 2025, down 5.9%, and Bayer said the drug was hit by lower prices and competition from generics.
Bayer is trying to rebuild its drug pipeline without writing one big cheque on day one. Handelsblatt said the takeover is structured to be easier on Bayer’s balance sheet, since most of the possible payout will only fall due if Perfuse’s medicine hits development, approval and sales targets.
Bayer said the purchase gives it full rights to PER-001, a small molecule endothelin receptor antagonist, meaning a drug designed to block a pathway that can narrow blood vessels. PER-001 is in Phase II, a mid-stage patient trial, for glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy. Juergen Eckhardt, head of business development and licensing at Bayer Pharmaceuticals, said Bayer was “encouraged by the potential of PER-001”; Perfuse CEO Sevgi Gurkan pointed to Bayer’s “scale and global resources.” Bayer
PER-001 is delivered through an intravitreal implant, meaning an implant placed inside the eye, and Fierce Biotech reported that Perfuse had linked the drug to improved outcomes in two Phase II studies last year. The outlet also noted that Bayer’s late-stage pipeline has leaned more toward cancer, cardiovascular and renal disease, leaving eye care short of a clear Eylea successor.
The potential patient pool is large, but not simple. Pharmaphorum reported that glaucoma affects about 80 million people worldwide and diabetic retinopathy about 146 million; it said PER-001 is meant to improve retinal blood flow, reduce inflammation and help prevent cell death, rather than only lowering eye pressure or limiting further retinal damage.
The competitive setting is getting rougher. Bayer shares rights to Eylea with Regeneron, while biosimilars — near-copy versions of complex biologic drugs — and Roche’s rival eye drug have increased pressure on the franchise. BioPharma Dive said the Perfuse deal is Bayer’s first drug-company acquisition since 2021 and could be its largest since the AskBio takeover in 2020 if all milestones are paid.
The deal also has a Berlin angle. Tagesspiegel noted that Bayer’s pharma headquarters sits in Berlin-Wedding and framed the purchase as a bid to replenish eye-care assets after Eylea lost patent protection in 2025.
Analysts were guarded, not euphoric. JPMorgan analyst Richard Vosser kept an “Overweight” rating and a €50 target on Bayer, saying the Perfuse move strengthened the product pipeline and should have a slightly positive effect on the shares. Finanzen
Barclays analyst Charles Pitman-King also kept an “Overweight” rating, with a €48 target, and said the acquisition strengthened Bayer’s global ophthalmology pipeline beyond the expiry of European patent protection for Eylea. Finanzen
Investors gave the deal a modest nod. Bayer shares ended Xetra trading up 1.61% at €38.51, according to finanzen.net.
The risk is still plain. PER-001 remains mid-stage, so clinical failure or delays could leave much of the headline price unpaid, and Bayer still needs antitrust clearance and Perfuse shareholder approval before the acquisition becomes effective.
