July 16, 2015
By Mark Terry, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
South San Francisco, Calif.-based Five Prime Therapeutics, Inc. announced today that it had finalized a strategic research and licensing agreement with La Jolla, Calif.-based Inhibrx.
Five Prime is focusing on glucocorticoid-induced tumor necrosis factor receptor (GITR) antibodies. GITR is a protein that triggers T cells and T regulatory cells (Tregs) to act against tumor cells. Inhibrx has its multivalent antibody scaffolding technology that allows researchers to engineer GITR antibodies specific to desired targets.
Five Prime will pay Inhibrx a $10 million license fee. In return, Five Prime gets exclusive, worldwide therapeutic and diagnostic rights to antibodies Inhibrx develops for GITR. Five Prime also holds an option to license multi-specific GITR antibodies and other targets. Inhibrx could receive up to $342.5 million in developmental, regulatory and commercial milestones. Or, as part of the deal, if the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) grants Breakthrough Therapy Designation to a product, Inhibrx could receive up to $442.5 million.
“Five Prime is actively pursuing a comprehensive approach to immuno-oncology by identifying pipeline candidates with the potential to work independently or in combination to target macrophages, immune check points, T cell agonist pathways and Treg cells,” said Lewis Williams, chief executive officer and president of Five Prime in a statement. “Comparing across many potential targets, our platform pointed to GITR as an ideal agonist to expand our portfolio.”
In a research note to investors on Wednesday, Zacks upgraded Five Prime from “sell” to “buy.” It also gave a $29 price target. On June 22, company chief executive Lewis Williams sold 75,000 shares of stock for an average price of $24.67. The total came to $1,850,250.
Oppenheimer analysts set Five Prime at “buy” and a $45 price target. Analysts at BMO Capital Markets gave the company a rating of “buy” on May 28 and set a price target of $31. Guggenheim analysts, on May 13, set a “buy” rating and a $31 price target.
Five Prime Therapeutics stock has been a little jittery the last several months, but appears to be on an incline. Shares traded for $12 on Oct. 15, 2014, rose to $20.70 on Nov. 24, 2014, then spiked to $28 on June 12, 2015. Shares dropped on April 6 to $20.37, then rose to $24.58 on June 1. Shares are currently trading for $26.04.
Inhibrx focuses on biologic immunotherapy in oncology, infectious disease and inflammatory conditions. Its proprietary platforms include VAST-mAb, which stands for Validated Ablation of Self-Tolerance, which allows it to expand the number of unique antibodies it generates by limiting epitope-immuno-dominance. In the antibody engineering area Inhibrx developed a humanization/optimization process for single domain antibodies by essentially wiping out pre-existing anti-drug antibodies.
On April 9, 2014, Inhibrx closed on a $20 million senior secured term loan agreement with Oxford Finance LLC.
“We are pleased to provide financing to Inhibrx to support the development of their therapeutic pipeline addressing various clinical targets,” said Christopher Herr, managing director of Oxford Finance in a statement. “The company currently has a promising licensing agreement with a major biopharmaceutical company for one of its assets, and has a unique business model that enables a cost effective and accelerated process for advancing other therapeutics into the clinic.”
In 2012, Inhibrx announced a worldwide Option and License Agreement with Summit, N.J.-based Celgene Corporation for an unidentified antibody program. The deal had the potential of exceeding $500 million, including upfront, clinical and regulatory milestones, as well as royalties.
As New Jersey Biotech Booms, Will It Overtake Other States As Prime Location?
A week after Celgene Corporation announced it is officially the mystery buyer of Merck & Co. ’s former 1 million-square-foot R&D site in Summit, N.J., it quickly became our most popular story last week.
The company announced last Wednesday that it is buying the space, ending months of speculation about what Big Pharma company might move into the neighborhood.
The Summit, N.J. site is zoned research/office. The New Jersey site would put operations closer to some of the major biotech and pharmaceutical hubs on the East Coast.
But, by far, the most tempting part of doing business in the state remains New Jersey’s operating tax credit, which allows companies to sell their net operating losses to the New Jersey Treasury. One of the state’s most recognizable biotechs, Celgene, used the program until it became profitable, which was key to it staying in the state, said local officials.
That has BioSpace is wondering if New Jersey is becoming the new face of biotech. What do you think? Can the Garden State compete with other longtime stalwarts like California or Boston?
