LONDON – Antibody-drug conjugate specialist Heidelberg Pharma AG has secured a route into Asia and a fresh injection of much-needed capital, in a licensing and equity deal with Huadong Medicine Co. Ltd. worth up to €930 million (US$1.1 billion).
Immunogen Inc. and Eli Lilly and Co., having already seen a collaboration collapse in 2018, will try it again. Immunogen granted the exclusive rights to research, develop and commercialize antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) that are directed toward targets Lilly will select. Waltham, Mass.-based Immunogen will receive $13 million up front from Lilly and is eligible to receive another $32.5 million in exercise fees if Lilly licenses all the targets. Down the road, Immunogen could receive as much as $1.7 billion in exercise fees and milestones payments.
Ursula Matulonis, a co-principal investigator in the latest study with Immunogen Inc.’s antibody-drug conjugate mirvetuximab soravtansine in stubborn ovarian cancer, said the top-line data are “truly spectacular” and bring “the potential to be transformative for patients.”
Business development among biopharmaceutical companies working on therapeutics for cancer indications has been brisk this year, with 32% of the 654 deals recorded to date by BioWorld involving cancer indications. However public companies in the area haven’t gained much investor enthusiasm, with the BioWorld Cancer index dropping over 18% year-to-date, with 6% of the loss in valuation taking place this month.
Immunogen Inc. leads a busy earnings season with numbers that pushed the stock (NASDAQ:IMGN) 30.3% higher on Feb. 12. The antibody-drug conjugates developer posted revenues of $132.3 million for 2020 compared to its $82.3 million in revenues for 2019, a 62.2% increase.
Chinese pharma giant Huadong Medicine Co. Ltd. has licensed rights to mirvetuximab soravtansine, an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) for ovarian cancer, from Immunogen Inc., marking its first step into a realm embraced by a growing number of Chinese biopharma player: innovative medicines.
Chinese pharma giant Huadong Medicine Co. Ltd. has licensed rights to mirvetuximab soravtansine, an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) for ovarian cancer, from Immunogen Inc., marking its first step into a realm embraced by a growing number of Chinese biopharma player: innovative medicines.
