The biggest biotechnology deal announced in July came from Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ: BIIB), which specializes in treatments for neurological, autoimmune and hematologic disorders. The company inked an exclusive, 10-year collaboration agreement with Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: IONS) to develop novel antisense drug candidates for a broad range of neurological diseases.
The price is a combination of $375 million upfront and $625 million to acquire approximately 11.5 million shares of Ionis’ common stock. Biogen may eventually pay development milestones of up to $125 million, or $270 million for each program, depending on the indication, and royalties on net sales.
Biogen will have the option to license therapies arising out of this collaboration and will be responsible for their development and commercialization.
Later in the month, the company announced its acquisition of two drug candidates developed by AliveGen, Inc., a privately held clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company.
They are ALG-801 (Phase 1a, now called BIIB110) and ALG-802 (preclinical), which represent novel ways of targeting the myostatin pathway, one of the most studied approaches for muscle enhancement.
The price for the pair is $27.5 million upfront and up to $535 million in additional potential development and commercialization milestones across both assets and multiple indications.
Biogen plans to study the two assets in multiple neuromuscular indications, including spinal muscular atrophy and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
