- Telix Pharmaceuticals (TLX) is set to buy Swiss-German biotech TheraPharm for €10.2 million (around A$16.5 million) upfront
- The ASX-lister inked the deal with TheraPharm’s parent company, Scintec Diagnostics, and has agreed to buy all issued capital in the healthcare business
- With the acquisition comes a suite of patents, tech, data, and expertise — specifically linked to hematology and immunology
- Interestingly, the buyout comes with a diagnostic imaging product which can detect inflammation in adults with suspected bone infections
- There’s also a therapeutic product which supports patients who need bone marrow transplants
- Now, all that’s left to do is sign TheraPharm’s clinical and production agreements over to Telix’s name
- Based on TheraPharm’s success, Telix will also make a series of earn-out payment in the years to come
- Following the news, TLX shares jumped 6.77 per cent to trade at $3.47
Telix Pharmaceuticals (TLX) is set to buy Swiss-German biotech TheraPharm for €10.2 million (around A$16.5 million) upfront.
The ASX-lister inked the deal with TheraPharm’s parent company, Scintec Diagnostics, and has agreed to buy all issued capital in the healthcare business.
TheraPharm
Founded in 2009, TheraPharm specialises in cancer stem cell therapy and Molecularly Targeted Radiation (MTR).
Under the TheraPharm buy, Telix is set to acquire a diagnostic imaging product known as Scintimun. The solution can locate inflammation in patients with suspected bone infection and has marketing authorisation throughout the European Union.
There’s also a therapeutic product, formally known as Y-anti-CD66-MTR, which supports patients who need bone marrow transplants. Essentially, the product treats blood cancers and their associated conditions. So far, it has undergone phase one and two clinical trials and received Orphan Drug Designation in Europe.
The deal
To complete the TheraPharm buy, Telix first needs to cough up €10.2 million (around A$16.5 million) in initial capital.
Breaking it down, that payment is split into €10 million (around A$16.2 million) worth of Telix shares based on the 10-day volume-weighted average price on the day the buy goes through. The remaining €0.2 million (roughly A$0.3 million) will be paid out in cash.
Later on, Telix could also make a series of earn-out payments based on the performance of TheraPharm’s therapeutic product.
For example, if the product successfully completes a phase three trial and meets its primary endpoint, TLX will fork out €5 million (about A$8.1 million) in cash.
Then, if the product is approved for therapeutic indication in Europe or the U.S., Telix will make another €5 million stipend.
Finally, there’s a 5 per cent royalty based on the first three years of product sales once it’s approved in either the U.S. or Europe.
Now, all that’s left to do is sign TheraPharm’s clinical and production agreements over to Telix’s name. The company expects to finalise the transaction within a week.
“Telix is committed to extending and improving the lives of patients with serious diseases. As such, the acquisition of TheraPharm and its MTR assets are uniquely aligned to Telix’s mission and technical strengths in antibody engineering and radiochemistry,” Telix CEO Dr Christian Behrenbruch commented today.
“The current approach to BMC employs highly toxic drugs that have a poor morbidity and mortality profile, and for which many patients are ineligible. MTR offers an excellent safety profile that may greatly expand the number of
patients able to undergo life prolonging stem cell transplantation while greatly reducing the hospitalisation burden and cost associated with such procedures,” he continued.
TheraPharm Co-Founder and Managing Director Dr Klaus Bosslet echoed the sentiments, stressing the therapeutic product had major implications as a hematologic cancer treatment.
“We look forward to joining the Telix team in order to expedite the development of products for this under-served field,” he stated today.
Following the news, TLX shares jumped 6.77 per cent to trade at $3.47 at 2:24 pm AEDT.