MacroGenics acquiring Raven
MacroGenics (Rockville, Md.) acquired cancer company Raven (South San Francisco, Calif.) for an undisclosed amount of stock. Raven has a platform technology to generate mAbs against cancer stem cells (CSCs), which the companies said would complement MacroGenics' Fc-optimization and next-generation antibody engineering platforms. Raven's lead product is RAV12, a mAb against an undisclosed, non-CSC cell-surface antigen that is in Phase II testing to treat pancreatic cancer. The company also has a library of more than 1,300 mAbs against CSCs. Wyeth (NYSE:WYE) has an option to exclusively license Raven's preclinical mAbs against an undisclosed cancer target.
MacroGenics has MGAWN1, a mAb against domain III of West Nile virus E-protein, which is in Phase I testing to treat West Nile virus infection. The company also has teplizumab, which it licensed to Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY) last year. The humanized mAb against CD3 is in the Phase III portion of the Phase II/III PROTEGE trial to treat recent-onset Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). Montgomery advised Raven on the deal. ...