ARTICLE | Deals
Akeso deal marks Summit’s transition to Pharmacyclics 2.0
Led by Bob Duggan and Maky Zanganeh, small cap paying $500M up front to get U.S.-EU-Japan rights to bispecific ivonescimab
December 7, 2022 6:13 PM UTC
Summit’s $500 million deal to gain rights to Akeso’s PD-1/VEGF bispecific is the latest step in CEO Bob Duggan’s attempt to build Pharmacyclics 2.0.
The deal terms themselves are remarkable in that the upfront payment alone is more than 3x the market cap of Summit Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:SMMT) on Monday, which stood at about $157 million. Under the deal announced Tuesday, Akeso Inc. (HKEX:9926) granted Summit exclusive rights to develop and commercialize ivonescimab (AK112, SMT112) in the U.S., Europe, Japan and Canada. ...