Date: 2015-12-21
Type of information: Company acquisition
Acquired company: Catherex (USA - MA)
Acquiring company: Amgen (USA - CA)
Amount: $ 10.5 million and milestone payments
Terms: * On December 21, 2015, Medigene, a clinical stage immunotherapy company focussing on the development of T-cell therapy platforms for the treatment of cancer, announced that Amgen will acquire 100% of Catherex, Inc., USA, a spin-off of Medigene. As a main shareholder of Catherex, Medigene Inc., USA, is entitled to approximately 40% of payments to be made by Amgen. The former shareholders of Catherex will receive an upfront payment of $ 10.5 million from Amgen and will be entitled to milestone payments upon achievement of certain regulatory and sales-based milestones for Amgen\'s drug Imlygic® (talimogene laherparepvec). In addition, royalty payments on the sale of Imlygic® will be made until the end of 2020. Amgen\'s drug Imlygic® was approved for the treatment of advanced, metastatic melanoma in the USA in October 2015 and recently in the European Union. Closing of the transaction is envisaged to take place early 2016. Therefore, there is no impact on Medigene\'s financial guidance for 2015.
Details: In April 2010, Medigene assigned its development program of oncolytic (cancer-killing) herpes simplex viruses (oHSV), to Catherex, Inc., a private US company located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In return, Medigene received a 40% stake in Catherex, making Medigene the main shareholder of this newly founded company. In 2014, Catherex spun off ongoing research and development projects and certain patent rights into the newly formed Aettis Inc. of which Medigene holds a 39% stake. Since then, Catherex only owns a specific patent portfolio in the field of oncolytic viruses, which has now been acquired by Amgen.
Related: Cancer - Oncology
