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news.Cubist Pharmaceuticals has acquired Illumigen Biosciences pursuant to a definitive agreement and plan of merger. Accordingly, Cubist will pay Illumigen stockholders $9 million in cash and Illumigen has become a wholly owned subsidiary of Cubist.
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Illumigen’s lead compound is IB657, a protein therapeutic in preclinical development for the treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections. Cubist expects that an IND for IB657 will be filed in 2008.
Cubist will make payments during the development of IB657 as a therapy for HCV infections of up to $75.5 million upon achieving certain development and regulatory milestones. If Cubist develops Illumigen products for the treatment of viruses other than HCV, development and regulatory milestone payments of up to $117 million could apply. Assuming that HCV or other Illumigen antiviral products are commercialized, additional milestone payments of up to $140 million, as well as tiered royalties, could apply.
Mike Bonney, president and CEO of Cubist, said: “We are excited about the opportunity of filing an IND for IB657 in the coming year and advancing it into the clinic. An HCV product candidate is an important addition to our pipeline, and leverages our anti-infective development, regulatory and commercialization expertise.”