Bristol-Myers Squibb acquires Cormorant Pharmaceuticals in deal worth up to $425 million

pharmafile | July 6, 2016 | News story | Research and Development, Sales and Marketing BMS, Bristol-Myers Squibb, cormorant 

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) has announced that it has acquired all outstanding capital stock of Sweden-based Cormorant Pharmaceuticals, granting it access to the company’s HuMax-IL8 antibody program.

The transaction includes upfront and near term contingent milestone payments of up to $95 million with further milestone payments of up to $425 million pending certain development and regulatory milestones.

The deal sees BMS acquire Cormorant’s lead candidate HuMax-IL8, a Phase I/II monoclonal antibody targeted against interleukin-8 (IL-8). This IL-8 protein is expressed by many solid tumours that suppresses the immune system and increases the ability of tumours to metastasise. By targeting IL-8, it is believed that HuMax-IL8 could boost immune response to become an efficacious combination therapy with existing cancer medicines.

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Francis Cuss, chief scientific officer at BMS, says: “We believe combination therapy will be foundational to delivering the potential for long-term survival for patients, and the opportunity to develop the HuMax-IL8 antibody program together with our broad immuno-oncology pipeline enables us to accelerate the next wave of potentially transformational immunotherapies.”

Sean Murray

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