AstraZeneca (AZ) has announced that it will be acquiring Icosavax in a deal worth up to $1.1bn, strengthening the Anglo-Swedish drugmaker’s late-stage vaccine pipeline.
The US biopharma focuses on developing vaccines against infectious diseases using its protein virus-like particle (VLP) platform.
As VLP vaccines mimic how naturally occurring viruses appear to the body’s immune system, they could offer benefits over non-VLP vaccines, including a stronger immune response, greater breadth of protection and increased durability.
Icosavax’s lead candidate is a phase 3-ready combination protein VLP vaccine targeting both respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and human metapneumovirus (hMPV), two leading causes of severe respiratory infection and hospitalisation in older adults and people with chronic conditions.
The asset, IVX-A12, has a differentiated profile versus currently approved RSV vaccines, according to AZ, and has already been shown in a mid-stage study to elicit robust immune responses against both RSV and hMPV one month after vaccination.
Iskra Reic, executive vice president, vaccines and immune therapies, AZ, said: “This VLP vaccine technology has the potential to transform prevention against severe infectious diseases, including RSV and hMPV.
"With the addition of Icosavax’s phase 3-ready lead asset to our late-stage pipeline, we will have a differentiated, advanced investigational vaccine and a platform for further development of combination vaccines against respiratory viruses.”
Under the terms of the agreement, AZ will initiate a tender offer to acquire all of Icosavax’s outstanding shares for a price of $15 per share in cash at closing, plus a non-tradable contingent value right for up to $5 per share in cash payable upon achievement of a specified regulatory milestone and a sales milestone.
Adam Simpson, chief executive officer, Icosavax, said: "We look forward to combining our skills and expertise in advancing the development of IVX-A12 with AZ’s decades of experience in RSV, resources and capabilities in late-stage development.”
The acquisition is just one of a series of deals that AZ has made this year. Earlier this month, it entered into a collaboration agreement worth up to $247m with Absci to develop an artificial intelligence-designed antibody drug for a specified oncology target.
The company also entered into an exclusive licence agreement worth almost $420m with Chinese biotech Usynova last month for global rights to preclinical small molecule drug candidate UA022.
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