Bay Area's ChemoCentryx Inks $85 Million Deal With Vifor Pharma for Lead Product Candidate
May 11, 2016
By Mark Terry, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
Mountain View, Calif.-based ChemoCentryx announced today that it has licensed its rare renal disease drug candidate, CCX168, to Swiss-based Vifor Pharma for an upfront payment of $85 million.
Vifor, a part of Galenica Group, will hold the rights to commercialize CCX168, a complement 5a Receptor (C5aR) inhibitor that is ready for Phase III development for orphan and rare renal diseases, in Europe, Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, and South Korea. CCX168 is being developed to treat a number of diseases, including anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis (AAV). This disease affects 40,000 individuals in the U.S. and more than 75,000 in Europe. Current treatment includes non-specific immuno-suppressant drugs like cyclophosphamide or rituximab, combined with high doses of corticosteroids.
CCX168 is also being investigated in atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome (aHUS) and immunoglobulin A (IgA) nephropathy.
“The collaboration with ChemoCentryx underlines our increasing attraction as the partner of choice for innovative pharmaceuticals,” said Søren Tulstrup, chief executive officer of Vifor Pharma, in a statement. “CCX168 has the potential to address major unmet medical needs of patients in a number of different orphan indications, including AAV. In this field of rare diseases, current treatment options are often limited as well as associated with serious and often fatal side effects. We look forward to working with ChemoCentryx to bring this potentially important new treatment option to patients in Europe and other major markets as quickly as possible.”
As part of the deal, Vifor will pay an upfront fee of $60 million in cash and $25 million in equity at a common stock price of $7.50 per share. Additional milestone payments are included, as well as tiered double-digit royalties on net sales of CCX168 in the licensed territories.
The deal also gives Vifor an exclusive option on a worldwide license agreement for ChemoCentryx’s CCX140, an orally-administered chemokine (CCRS) receptor inhibitor.
The announcement coincided with the ChemoCentryx’s first-quarter financial reports yesterday. The company reported cash, cash equivalents and investments of $65.3 million, not including the upfront payment from Vifor. Its research and development costs were $11.2 million for the first quarter, compared to $8.4 million in the same period last year. Net loss for the quarter was $15.2 million compared to $12 million in the first quarter of 2015.
“2016 is proving to be a transformational year for ChemoCentryx,” said Thomas Schall, president and chief executive officer of ChemoCentryx, in a statement. “Following the positive results from the CLEAR trial with CCX168 in AAV that we reported in January, we continue to build considerable momentum.”
ChemoCentryx , which has been in a slump, jumped at the news. Shares traded on Dec. 29, 2015 at $8.17, and traded at $2.03 on May 6, 2016. Shares are currently trading for $3.78.
Zacks wrote today, “Over the last 30 days, the company witnessed one positive estimate revision and the Zacks Consensus Estimate also moved higher, suggesting more solid trading ahead. So make sure to keep an eye on this stock going forward to see if yesterday’s jump can turn into more strength down the road.”