BioVaxys Technology has acquired the entire portfolio of discovery, preclinical and clinical assets along with the corresponding intellectual assets from Canadian biotech IMV and its subsidiaries.
The company will pay $750,000 in upfront cash payments, with IMV being entitled to receive milestone-based payments, a 15% share in licence revenues, and a 6% gross sales royalty on product sales. The acquisition is expected to close by the end of next week.
Following the news, BioVaxys’ stock was up by over 38% in trading today at the Canadian Securities Exchange. The company’s market cap stands at C$15.8m ($11.7m).
BioVaxys will also issue common stock valued at $250,000 to HIMV, an acquisition company formed of Horizon Technology and other secured creditors for IMV.
In May 2023, IMV started Chapter 15 bankruptcy proceedings in the US.
IMV’s portfolio consists of a cancer vaccine, maveropepimut-S (MVP-S), developed using the DPX antigen delivery platform, which is also part of the acquisition. MVP-S targets survivin, a tumour-associated antigen, and induces a CD8 T-cell-directed immune response.
The vaccine is being evaluated as a treatment for multiple cancers, including relapsed/refractory (r/r) diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and platinum-resistant ovarian cancer. The open-label Phase II VITALIZE (NCT04920617) and AVALON (NCT05243524) trials evaluating MVP-S as a combination therapy with MSD’s Keytruda (pembrolizumab) in r/r DLBCL, and with chemotherapy in platinum-resistant ovarian cancer, respectively, paused enrolment in May 2023 as part of the bankruptcy proceedings.
Cancer vaccines have been an area of increased interest in recent months. Moderna and MSD are co-developing the mRNA-4157 vaccine as an adjuvant treatment for patients with resected high-risk melanoma. The vaccine is being evaluated in a Phase III trial (NCT05933577) in conjunction with MSD’s Keytruda.
The transaction also includes an influenza vaccine, an investigational therapeutic for advanced metastatic bladder cancer, and DPX-Covid-19.
BioVaxys had also tried to enter the medical software business and acquired clinical studies management company TAETSoftware in March 2023. TAET develops and commercialises the Trial Adverse Events Tracker (TAET) technology platform, which allows trial participants to record and submit clinical trial adverse drug events reports to the trial sponsors in real-time. However, BioVaxys promptly divested the company last June.
