DAIICHI SANKYO Announces Acquisition of Biotech Firm U3 Pharma AG
Tokyo, May 21, 2008 - DAIICHI SANKYO Co., Ltd. announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire the privately held firm, U3 Pharma AG, a German biotechnology company focusing on research into antibodies for the treatment of cancer.
DAIICHI SANKYO will purchase 100 percent of the stock and make a one-time payment of 150 million Euros for the company. Closure of the transaction is subject to clearance under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act and customary closing conditions.
U3 Pharma, which is based in Martinsried, Germany, was founded by Professor Axel Ullrich of the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, whose pioneering gene technology-based and oncology-focused research led to the development of the oncology blockbusters Herceptin® and Sutent™*. U3 Pharma was established in 2001 and currently employs 27 people, the majority of whom work directly in research and development.
U3 Pharma’s investors include Alta Partners, Atlas Venture, E. de Rothschild Investment Partners, Life Science Partners and Karsten Henco, as well as private individuals from the biotech and pharmaceutical industry.
U3 Pharma’s pipeline of novel targeted therapeutics includes programs focusing on fully-human antibodies as potential therapies for breast, lung and colorectal cancers, among others. The company’s lead product, which is being co-developed with Amgen, is U3-1287 (AMG 888), the first fully-human anti-HER3 monoclonal antibody (mAb), to inhibit oncogenic signaling and tumor proliferation. The companies intend to initiate clinical development of this compound this year.
DAIICHI SANKYO’s current novel therapeutics portfolio for worldwide commercialization includes CS-1008, an oncologic agent to combat malignant neoplasms, which is in Phase 2. For commercialization only in Japan, DAIICHI SANKYO has the rights to market denosumab, or AMG 162, which is licensed from Amgen. In Japan, this agent is currently in preparation for Phase 3 for osteoporosis, and in Phase 3 for bone metastases in patients with advanced breast cancer. DAIICHI SANKYO also has the exclusive rights in Japan to develop and market nimotuzumab, or DE 766, which is licensed from CIMYM Biosciences. This is an oncologic agent in Phase 1 to treat advanced solid malignancies.
“Our acquisition of U3 Pharma is an ideal strategic fit for our oncology portfolio,” said Takashi Shoda, President and CEO of DAIICHI SANKYO Co., Ltd. “We currently have three human monoclonal antibodies in development. Additionally, in March, 2008, we announced that we were expanding our joint research venture with another German company, MorphoSys AG, for its advanced Human Combinatorial Antibody Library and its phage display technologies. One of our goals for DAIICHI SANKYO is to increase our presence for novel therapeutics in the oncology arena.”
“This transaction with DAIICHI SANKYO represents an important and exciting milestone for U3 Pharma”, said founder Professor Axel Ullrich of the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry. “We look forward to working with our DAIICHI SANKYO colleagues to advance our discovery pipeline and to collaborate on translating them into novel cancer therapies.”
*Herceptin® is a trademark of Genentech, Inc.
Sutent™ is a trademark of Pfizer, Inc.
CONTACT
Dr. Thomas Portz
Corporate Communications
Phone +49(0)/172 841 5904
thomas.portz@daiichi-sankyo.eu
Olaf Lamberz
Corporate Communications
Phone +49(0)89/78 08-442
olaf.lamberz@daiichi-sankyo.eu
Forward-looking statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements and information about future developments in the sector, and the legal and business conditions of DAIICHI SANKYO EUROPE GmbH. Such forward-looking statements are uncertain and are subject at all times to the risks of change, particularly to the usual risks faced by a global pharmaceutical company, including the impact of the prices for products and raw materials, medication safety, changes in exchange rates, government regulations, employee relations, taxes, political instability and terrorism as well as the results of independent demands and governmental inquiries that affect the affairs of the company. All forward-looking statements contained in this release hold true as of the date of publication. They do not represent any guarantee of future performance. Actual events and developments could differ materially from the forward-looking statements that are explicitly expressed or implied in these statements. DAIICHI SANKYO EUROPE GmbH assumes no responsibility for the updating of such forward-looking statements about future developments of the sector, legal and business conditions and the company.
