US-based biotech company Celgene has paid $35m to San Diego-based VentiRx Pharmaceuticals in a collaboration with the aim to promote the development of cancer immunotherapies in blood.
Terms of the deal have yet to be disclosed but Celgene now has the option to make a future equity investment in VentiRx and an exclusive option to acquire the company at a pre-determined price if clinical trials prove positive.
Investment in VentiRx now totals $86.6m with a $51.6m injection of Series A capital in January 2010 by MedImmune Ventures, a corporate venturing unit of Anglo-Dutch pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, and venture firms ARCH Venture Partners, Domain Associates, Frazier Healthcare Ventures.
VentiRx is working on the commercialisation of a system to fight cancer cells using the receptor 8 protein which is used in most aspects of human brain function among other things. Two large-scale clinical trials are planned.
Celgene spokesman Greg Geissman, said: “As we look at a number of collaborations, our main goal is to identify promising technologies that have potential to really make an impact on treatment in cancer and other diseases.”
In a quote from Xconomy.com, VentiRx’s CEO, Rob Hershberg said Celgene would be an “excellent partner”.
“[Celgene is] a company that knows the oncology space, and they have a strong and growing interest in immunotherapy,” said Hershberg.
Last year, Celgene invested $45m in San Francisco-based Quanticel Pharmaceuticals which would similarly give the New Jersey-based financiers the option to acquire the company at a later date. This deal was influenced by the option for Celgene to work on its own lenalidomide (Revlimid) in combination with Genentech’s rituximab (Rituxan) and other immune-boosting hybrids.