DUBLIN – Kiadis Pharma BV has parlayed its €31.9 million (US$37.2 million) stock-based acquisition of Cytosen Therapeutics Inc. last year, which involved an initial outlay of just €14.5 million worth of shares, into a €308 million payday with Sanofi SA.
Kiadis Pharma NV’s takeover last year of Cytosen Therapeutics Inc. to get a natural killer (NK) platform paid off in a potentially huge way, with Sanofi SA paying €17.5 million (US$19.7 million) up front in a licensing deal with as much as €857.5 million more if preclinical, clinical, regulatory and commercial goals are reached, as well as up to double-digit royalties.
Avectas Ltd., of Dublin, brought in a $20 million series C financing, ratcheting the total equity investment in the company to $40 million. Privately held Avectas, formed in 2012 as a spin-out from Ireland’s Maynooth University, said it plans to accelerate the clinical translation and commercial scale-up of its cell engineering technology and expand its staffing in Ireland.
