IP Group PLC Artios and Merck in global strategic collaboration
December 03 2020 - 3:01AM
RNS Non-Regulatory
TIDMIPO
IP Group PLC
03 December 2020
FOR RELEASE ON 03 December 2020
IP Group plc - Portfolio company Artios and Merck KGaA,
Darmstadt, Germany announce a global strategic collaboration on
novel DNA Damage Response targets in oncology
-- Artios to receive US$30m in upfront and near-term payments
and up to US$860m total milestones per target
IP Group plc (LSE: IPO) ("IP Group" or "the Group"), the
developer of intellectual property-based businesses, is delighted
to note that portfolio company Artios Pharma Ltd ("Artios"), a
leading DNA Damage Response (DDR) company focused on developing a
broad pipeline of precision medicines for the treatment of cancer,
and Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany ("Merck"), a leading science and
technology company, have announced a global three-year strategic
research collaboration to discover and develop multiple precision
oncology drugs.
As part of the agreement, Artios will receive a payment of
US$30m in the form of up-front and near-term payments. If Merck
chooses to exercise the option, subject to double digit option
fees, Artios will be eligible to receive up to US$860m per target ,
in addition to up to double digit royalty payments on net sales of
each product commercialised by Merck. Subject to certain
conditions, Artios has opt-in rights for joint development and
commercialization with Merck for the programmes.
IP Group has an 11.7% undiluted beneficial holding in Artios
that was valued at GBP11.0m as at 30 June 2020. The directors
anticipate that the Group's assessment of the value of its holding
in Artios may increase by GBP5m-GBP15m as a result of the
collaboration and will finalise this during the Group's 2020 Annual
Results valuation process.
Under the terms of the agreement, the companies will leverage
Artios's proprietary nuclease targeting discovery platform to
jointly identify multiple synthetic lethal targets for precision
oncology drug candidates. During this joint research collaboration,
Merck will contribute its significant expertise and resources in
the field of DDR and will have options to licence up to eight
nuclease targets with exclusive worldwide rights to develop and
commercialize select therapeutics discovered under the
collaboration. The collaboration does not include Artios' lead
programmes, Pol and ATR inhibitors, for which Artios will retain
all rights.
For more information, please contact:
IP Group plc www.ipgroupplc.com
+44 (0) 20 7444 0050
Greg Smith, Chief Financial Officer +44 (0) 20 7444 0062/+44 (0)
Liz Vaughan-Adams, Communications 7979 853802
Charlotte Street Partners
David Gaffney +44 (0) 7854 609998
Andrew Wilson +44 (0) 7810 636995
Notes for editors
About IP Group
IP Group is a leading intellectual property commercialisation
company which focuses on evolving great ideas, mainly from its
partner universities, into world-changing businesses. The Group has
pioneered a unique approach to developing these ideas and the
resulting businesses by providing access to business building
expertise, capital (through its 100%-owned FCA-authorised
subsidiaries IP Capital and Parkwalk Advisors), networks,
recruitment and business support. IP Group has a strong track
record of success and its portfolio comprises holdings in
early-stage to mature businesses across life sciences and
technology. IP Group is listed on the Main Market of the London
Stock Exchange under the code IPO.
Group holdings in portfolio companies reflect the undiluted
beneficial equity interest excluding debt, unless otherwise
explicitly stated.
For more information, please visit our website at
www.ipgroupplc.com .
About Artios Pharma Ltd.
Artios is a leading DNA Damage Response (DDR) company focused on
developing first-in-class treatments for cancer. The Company,
founded by SV Health Investors in 2016, is led by an experienced
scientific and leadership team with proven expertise in DDR drug
discovery. It has a unique partnership with Cancer Research UK
(CRUK), and collaborations with leading DNA repair researchers
worldwide, such as The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR), London,
the Netherlands Cancer Institute (NKI) and the National Centre for
Biomolecular Research at Masaryk University in the Czech Republic,
with their expertise in DNA repair nucleases. Artios is building a
pipeline of next-generation DDR programmes to target hard to treat
cancers. It is backed by blue chip investors including: AbbVie
Ventures, Andera Partners (formerly EdRIP), Arix Bioscience plc, IP
Group plc, LSP, M Ventures, Novartis Venture Fund (NVF), Pfizer
Ventures and SV Health Investors. Artios is based at the Babraham
Research Campus in Cambridge, UK, with offices in New York City,
USA. www.artiospharma.com
ENDS
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