Medigene acquires UK-based Avidex
The biotechnology company MediGene has acquired the privately held biotechnology company Avidex based in Oxford, UK.
The biotechnology company MediGene has acquired the privately held biotechnology company Avidex based in Oxford, UK.
With this acquisition, MediGene will diversify and broaden its drug pipeline with several drug candidates to treat cancer and autoimmune diseases, and will add a proprietary technology platform to further fuel its future drug pipeline.
The lead product, RhuDex, an orally available CD80 inhibitor, will soon enter a phase IIa clinical trial for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, and is estimated to achieve annual peak sales of more than Euro 1.5bn. Several other drug candidates with high potential are cur-rently in research and pre-clinical development stages. Additional drug candidates will originate from the highly innovative monoclonal T cell receptor technology platform (mTCR), on which Avidex already has a partnership with Syngenta.
A purchase price for Avidex Ltd. of approximately €50m in the form of new MediGene shares was agreed upon. The UK-based company will remain at its premises in Oxford and will be operated as a subsidiary of MediGene.
'The acquisition of Avidex is a major step forward for MediGene and makes our portfolio one of the strongest among the European biotech companies,' said Dr Peter Heinrich, MediGene ceo.
'Avidex' autoimmune and cancer product portfolio nicely complements our pipeline and offers additional partnering opportunities. Soluble T cell receptors are one of the most modern therapeutic concepts for cancer and autoimmune-therapy,' he added.