Pharma giant Boehringer Ingelheim has acquired Swiss cancer biotech Amal Therapeutics in a move it said will significantly enhance its cancer immunology portfolio.
Exact financial details were not made available, though Boehringer Ingelheim ”“ based in Germany, with its North American headquarters in Ridgefield ”“ said the deal could cost it about $366.2 million, including an upfront payment as well as contingent clinical, development and regulatory milestones payouts, plus up to $112.7 million “if certain commercial milestones are hit.”
Key to the transaction is Amal”™s therapeutic cancer vaccines derived from its technology platform KISIMA. Amal”™s lead vaccine ATP128 is being developed for stage IV colorectal cancer and is slated to begin its first-in-human trials later this month.
Boehringer plans to develop new therapies by combining assets from its cancer immunology portfolio with the KISIMA platform.
“Our new relationship with Boehringer Ingelheim will enable us to realize the full potential of our KISIMA platform to fight solid cancers while preserving AMAL”™s approach to biotechnology research and our scientific and academic networks,” said Amal Founder and CEO Madiha Derouazi. “Moreover, sharing resources and capabilities in clinical development will greatly help us to move ATP128 and other assets forward.”
Amal will operate as a subsidiary within Boehringer Ingelheim from its home on the campus of the University of Geneva in Switzerland.
The new acquisition follows Boehringer”™s pickup of ViraTherapeutics, an Austrian biopharmaceutical company specializing in the development of oncolytic viral therapies, last year in a deal valued at €210 million (approximately $245 million).
