Nordic Life Science 1
TOP STORIES BUSINESS The companies will seek to e
nhance nasal drug delivery to the brain of Herantis’ CDNF and xCDNF therapies (Parkinson’s disease) using Nanoform’s biological nanoparticle technology. collaMartin Welschof, CEO, BioInvent boration is intended to assess the utility of Nanoform’s latest platform technology for biologic drugs. The technology was recently launched, following the filing of a provisional patent application with the USPTO to enable production of biological nanoparticles as small as 50 nm. For compensation on MANUFA C T UR I NG IMMUNICUM ACQUIRES ALL SHARES IN DCPRIME DCPRIME IS A DUTCH CLINICAL STAGE COMPANY DEVELOPING CANCER RELAPSE VACCINES AIMED AT REDUCING TUMOR RECURRENCE. lopment, scale-up, supply of material for toxicological studies and clinical grade material in 1000L scale for use in phase I and THE MAIN OBJECTIVE of the combination is to establish a unified company built on combined immuno-oncology and cell therapy expertise in the field of allogeneic dendritic cell biology. The company will maintain its corporate headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden, and consolidate research, process development and future manufacturing efforts at the location in Leiden, the Netherlands. Immunicum’s shares will continue to trade on the Nasdaq Stockholm. Payment in the transaction is effectuated through an issue in kind of 73,909,635 new shares in Immunicum, which may generate reve-nue for BioInvent of up to SEK 30 million, BioInvent will provide process deveII clinical trials. The majority of the work will be completed in 2021, to start clinical trials as early as possible during 2022. “We are pleased to add Cantargia to our growing list of manufacturing customers, which is a clear testament to our expertise in state-of-the-art antibody manufacturing and the quality of our processes,” says Martin Welschof, CEO, BioInvent. representing 44 percent of the shares in Immunicum on a fully diluted basis. DCprime’s current majority shareholder, Van Herk Investments B.V. will thereby become a significant shareholder of the combined entity and intends to invest up to SEK 82.5 million in the company. Erik Manting, currently CEO of DCprime, will join Immunicum’s leadership team as Chief Business Officer and deputy CEO. Jeroen Rovers, currently Chief Medical Officer at DCprime, will have the role of the Managing Director of DCprime in the combination. standard commercial terms, Nanoform will carry out two Proof of Concept studies on Herantis’ CDNF and xCDNF molecules, leveraging Nanoform’s novel platform and its formulation expertise. The goal of the planned collaboration is to increase the probability of success for enhanced BBB penetration in the nasal drug delivery route for CDNF and xCDNF. Nanoform has undertaken to invest EUR 1,600,000 in a planned immediate directed share issue by Herantis. “Completing this deal validates the strong market interest in, and potential value that, Nanoform’s platform technologies can add to pharmaceutical development programs and to the patient,” says Edward Hæggström, CEO, Nanoform. NORDICLIFESCIENCE.ORG 13