BioCentury
ARTICLE | Strategy

Stimulating deals

July 10, 2006 7:00 AM UTC

Looking to boost the response to its cancer vaccines, Antigenics Inc. acquired Aquila Biopharmaceuticals Inc. in 2000 for $40 million in stock. Since then, AGEN has monetized over $20 million of the deal, in large part through the 2004 sale of manufacturing rights to Aquila's Leucogen vaccine to Virbac S.A. to treat feline leukemia virus for $14.3 million in cash.

The rest of the money has come from milestone payments and manufacturing of Aquila's QS-21 Stimulon adjuvant. Indeed, AGEN has licensed Stimulon to more than 100 pharmaceutical companies, research collaborators and academic institutions for more than 50 different indications. ...