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news.UK biotech firm Antisoma, a cancer drug development company, has entered into an agreement to acquire private US cancer company Aptamera in a share-based deal worth around $21.4 million.
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Aptamera’s principal asset is AGRO100, a novel aptamer drug that has shown promising anticancer effects and a marked lack of side effects in a phase I trial of patients with various cancers. Antisoma will now assess which cancers to focus on in the next phase of development.
AGRO100 has US orphan drug status in pancreatic cancer, and renal cancer and acute myeloid leukaemia are also potential indications. Antisoma will develop AGRO100 independently, outside of its alliance with Roche.
AGRO100 targets nucleolin, a protein found on the surface of many types of cancer cell. The University of Louisville, Kentucky, where AGRO100 was latterly developed, is researching further drugs based on targeting nucleolin. Through its acquisition of Aptamera, Antisoma will obtain an option to license these drugs from the university.
The acquisition of Aptamera is conditional on approval by a majority of Aptamera’s shareholders on or before February 2, and upon fulfilment of certain pre-closing conditions.
The enlarged group will continue under the leadership of the current Antisoma management team. In addition, Dr Mark Rogers, the current chairman of Aptamera, has been invited to join the board of Antisoma as a non-executive director upon completion of the acquisition.
Antisoma’s operating loss for the year to June 30 2004 amounted to GBP3.13 million and net assets at that date amounted to GBP29.49 million. The audited loss for Aptamera for the year ended December 31 2003 was $2.79 million and the net liabilities of the Aptamera Group at the same date were $1.97 million. Aptamera is being acquired on a cash and debt-free basis.
The enlarged group will have a pipeline comprising four clinical-stage products: AS1404, AGRO100, R1550 and AS1405. The directors expect progress during 2005 to include the first findings from phase II studies on AS1404, data from the phase I study that Roche is performing on R1550, the start of a phase II study on AS1405, reporting of data from Aptamera’s phase I study on AGRO100 and the start of a new study on AGRO100.