Telix Pharmaceuticals has agreed to acquire certain assets of ImaginAb, an American antibody engineering company, for up to $230m.
The deal includes the acquisition of ImaginAb’s pipeline of next-generation therapeutic candidates, a proprietary biologics technology platform, and a protein engineering and discovery research facility.
This acquisition is expected to strengthen the innovation capabilities of Telix Pharmaceuticals, an Australian biopharmaceutical company.
This transaction adds a pipeline of early-stage drug candidates targeting proteins like DLL3 and integrin αvβ6, along with other discovery-stage targets.
It also includes an advanced research facility in California, which hosts a team of experts in discovery, protein engineering, and radiopharmaceutical development.
These assets will enhance Telix Pharmaceuticals’ in-house capabilities in antibody engineering and preclinical development.
Telix Pharmaceuticals therapeutics CEO Richard Valeix said: “The combination of a proprietary drug discovery platform, pipeline of promising theranostic assets and a talented team of subject matter experts will enhance Telix’s research and innovation capability now and into the future.”
The Melbourne-based firm will acquire these assets through an asset purchase agreement and a concurrent technology licence agreement to be signed at closing.
The total purchase price is $45m, consisting of $10m in cash, $31m in equity at closing, and up to $4m in deferred equity payment after a 15-month indemnity period.
Telix Pharmaceuticals may pay up to $185m upon achieving key development and commercial milestones, with payments made in cash or equity at its election.
Additionally, royalties will be paid on net sales in the low single digits for a limited number of platform and early-stage products after the first four products are developed, along with single-digit sublicence fees where applicable.
The Australian biopharmaceutical firm will also issue ordinary shares to ImaginAb as consideration for the acquisition.
After closing the transaction, ImaginAb will focus on developing its lead imaging candidate, CD8 ImmunoPET, which is currently in Phase 2 clinical trials.
ImaginAb co-founder and board member Anna Wu said: “As the radiopharmaceutical sector gains momentum there is a significant need for targeting agents to be more selective, deliver less off-target radiation, and better match the pharmacology and radiobiology of a given radionuclide.”
In a separate development, Telix Pharmaceuticals entered into an agreement with Curium Pharma to transfer marketing and distribution rights for Scintimun (99mTc-besilesomab), a diagnostic radiopharmaceutical used for infection imaging. The deal includes a manufacturing agreement, with plans to expand commercial distribution and develop Scintimun as a companion tool for TLX66.
