New cancer hopes lead to $500m takeover

Astra ZENECA, the London-based drugmaker, took a further step to bolster its pipeline of new cancer drugs yesterday by agreeing to acquire privately held US biotech company Amplimmune for up to $500m.
By The Newsroom
Published 27th Aug 2013, 01:01 BST

The deal is the second within 24 hours in the cancer drug space, following Amgen’s much larger acquisition of Onyx Pharmaceuticals for about $10.4bn.

Amplimmune specialises in developing treatments designed to help the immune system fight cancer and the purchase will give AstraZeneca access to a number of compounds currently in pre-clinical development.

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While it will not yield commercially viable new medicines for several years, the move fits with the drugmaker’s strategy of building up its capability in oncology – a key area identified for investment by chief executive Pascal Soriot.

AstraZeneca’s MedImmune biotech unit will acquire 100 per cent of Amplimmune’s shares for an initial $225m and a deferred consideration of up to $275m based on reaching predetermined development milestones.

“It will allow us to strengthen our arsenal of potential cancer therapies,” said Bahija Jallal, executive vice president of MedImmune.

AstraZeneca already has other cancer therapies in clinical development and its decision to place a further bet on such early work reflects its determination to compete with companies such as Roche and Merck & Co in a hot area of cancer research.

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The new wave of medicines that tap the power of the immune system to fight cancer could become the biggest drug class in history, with potential sales of $35bn a year, according to analysts at US bank Citigroup.

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