Celgene has announced that it will pay up to $485 million to buy an early-stage biotech focused on cancer drug discovery.
The acquisition of Quanticel, a Stanford spinout, culminates a 2011 strategic alliance in which Celgene provided initial funding of $45 million in return for an equity stake and a buyout option after three and a half years.
Under the terms of this week’s deal, Celgene will pay an upfront of $100 million up front, with as much as a further $385 million achievable upon research, development, and regulatory milestones.
Quanticel’s platform technology aims to produce first-in-class, small-molecule cancer drug candidates. The technology uses single-cell genomic analysis of tumour samples to highlight molecular weak points or targets on cancer cells. As well as working to identify predictive biomarkers for Celgene’s investigational drugs over the past three and a half years, Quanticel has also been performing drug discovery to generate its own cancer drug candidates, some of which it hopes to get into the clinic next year.
A personalised tool to help users track selected stocks. Delivering real-time notifications on price updates, announcements, and performance stats on each to help make informed investment decisions.
(20min delay)