With researchers and company executives flocking to Philadelphia for the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) meeting this week, there is no doubt that immuno-oncology will be high on the list of hot topics all delegates will be focusing on during the event. Not surprisingly, it is also attracting the attention of major pharma companies who are lining up to access the innovative technologies being developed by biotech companies in that space.

That is why dealmaking between biotech and big pharma companies continues its torrid pace. It is clear that pharma values what biotech companies have and accessing their technologies has become a major driver of pharma corporate development.

Big pharma companies, by and large, have managed to navigate themselves beyond the tough patent cliff terrain thanks to implementing creative business strategies designed to secure consistent future growth. Business plans include accessing biotech innovation through partnering and mergers and acquisitions to augment current in-house research and development programs.

Having just come off a record year of dealmaking between biotech and pharma companies the pace has not slowed down in the first quarter.

According to Thomson Reuters Recap data, the deal environment in the biotherapeutics area has been robust with more than 100 deals transacted by pharma companies with biotech and research institutions based on therapeutic targets and related technology.

Basel, Switzerland-based Novartis AG was among several pharma companies that has been particularly active with seven deals concluded in the first quarter.

Most recently, the company added its name to the growing list forging alliances focused on immuno-oncology research. Its deal with Berkeley, Calif.-based Aduro Biotech Inc. centers on the development and commercialization of immuno-oncology products generated from Aduro's stimulator of interferon genes (STING) targeted cyclic dinucleotide (CDN) platform technology. CDNs are small molecules naturally expressed by bacteria and immune cells that are known to activate the STING signaling pathway in immune cells. A central mediator of innate immune response, when stimulated STING induces the expression of various interferons, cytokines and T-cell recruitment factors, that amplify and strengthen immune activity. (See BioWorld Today, Jan. 6, 2015.)

Novartis was attracted to Aduro's technology because the STING agonists add to the pharma's own portfolio of immunotherapies that includes chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CART) technology and novel checkpoint inhibitors.

EXCITING FRONTIERS

"Immunotherapy is one of the exciting frontiers in oncology today. Current approaches with checkpoint inhibitors and T-cell modulation are potent but only in select tumor types. STING agonists have the potential to fully activate the immune system to attack a broader range of tumors," noted Mark Fishman, president of the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research.

Under terms of the agreement, Aduro will receive an initial up-front payment of $200 million with Novartis making a 2.7 percent equity investment in the company valued at $25 million, with a commitment for another $25 million investment that will be made at a later date. In addition, Aduro is eligible to receive up to an additional aggregate amount of $500 million in potential milestones.

Researchers from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Aduro have reported that their cancer vaccine Stingvax showed preclinical promise in cancer types beyond melanoma, including colon cancer and metastatic pancreatic cancer. In work appearing in the April 15, 2015, issue of Science Translational Medicine, they showed that Stingvax in combination with PD-1 blockers could induce regression of tumors that were oblivious to the PD-1 blockade alone. The data will be presented at a poster session on tumor vaccines at the AACR. (See BioWorld Today, April 17, 2015.)

A suite of technologies in the red hot CAR T-cell space also caught the attention of Merck Serono, which inked a potential $941 million deal with Intrexon Corp. Under the terms, the $115 million up-front fee will be split equally between Intrexon and partner Ziopharm Oncology Inc. The two firms have worked together since an exclusive channel collaboration in 2011 and broadened the scope of their partnership, which brought together a nonviral DNA plasmid-based gene transfer system to modify and deliver T cells – both patient-derived and off the shelf – with Intrexon's technology such as the Rheoswitch Therapeutic System interleukin-12 platform for greater precision using genetically modified CAR T cells. (See BioWorld Today, March 31, 2015.)

ACTIVE PLAYER

Janssen Biotech Inc., a unit of Johnson & Johnson, was a particularly active player in the first quarter, entering into 12 deals covering a wide range of technologies, including inflammation, Alzheimer's disease and oncology.

In January, Janssen committed to pay Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc. up to $835 million to discover and develop antisense drugs to treat autoimmune disorders of the gut. The deal gives Janssen options to license three therapeutic candidates in an area where it has established broad expertise with drugs such as Remicade (infliximab) while helping Isis continue to expand the breadth of antisense therapy's utility, further developing its potential for oral administration and local action. (See BioWorld Today, Jan. 6, 2015.)

Astrazeneca plc joined a growing list of pharmas forging alliances that seek to leverage retinoic acid-related orphan nuclear receptor gamma (RORγ) inhibitors to address a wide range of autoimmune diseases. Its exclusive collaboration with Orca Pharmaceuticals Ltd. adopts its full RORγ pipeline. The deal carries up-front and milestone payments of up to $122.5 million for the Oxford, UK-based company and will likely yield a candidate by year-end ahead of possible 2016 first-in-human studies.

The three-year partnership will focus on autoimmune diseases for which there are currently no safe, orally available and effective treatments and it gives Astrazeneca worldwide rights and an option to acquire the Orca compounds at the end of the collaboration. Orca remains free to start programs in other areas. (See BioWorld Today, Feb. 26, 2015.)

Editor's note: Part 2 of this feature will appear in the May 4 issue to coincide with the start of the Allicense 2015 meeting in San Francisco that features the latest trends in dealmaking and the sought-after technologies that are driving these alliances. For more information for the Allicense meeting, hosted by Thomson Reuters, see allicense.com.