Summit Therapeutics in up to $5 bln licensing deal for Akeso's cancer therapy (updated)

Akeso

06/12/2022 13:46

(Adds details on deal, shares)
       Dec 6 (Reuters) - 
    Summit Therapeutics Inc  SMMT.O  said on Tuesday it would
license China-based Akeso Inc's  9926.HK  experimental cancer
therapy in a deal worth up to $5 billion, sending its shares up
57% in premarket trade.
  
        The deal involves an upfront payment of $500 million to
Akeso, which will also be eligible for regulatory and commercial
milestone payments of up to $4.5 billion.
    
        Additionally, Akeso will be eligible to receive low
double-digit royalties on net sales, Summit said in a statement.
  
        Through the deal, Summit will get the rights to develop
and commercialize the drug, ivonescimab, in the United States,
Canada, Europe, and Japan, while Akeso will retain the rights
for rest of the world, including China. 
  
    The experimental drug is being developed as a bispecific
antibody, which targets a protein called PD-1 that prevents the
immune system from killing cancerous cells, as well as curbs
levels of another protein called VEGF that can encourage tumor
growth if found in excess.
        Summit plans to start treating patients in clinical
studies by the second quarter of 2023.
  
        The company also announced a $500 million rights
offering and the issuance of $520 million in promissory notes.
  
 (Reporting by Leroy Leo and Aditya Samal in Bengaluru ;
Editing by Vinay Dwivedi and Anil D'Silva)
 ((Leroy.Dsouza@thomsonreuters.com ; Twitter: https://twitter.com/LeroyLeo7;))