MorphoSys AG (FSE: MOR; NASDAQ: MOR), a near Munich, Germany-based commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the discovery, development and commercialization of innovative therapies for people living with cancer and autoimmune diseases, acquired Constellation Pharmaceuticals, Inc., (NASDAQ: CNST), a Cambridge, Mass. – based clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, for a total equity value of $1.7 billion.
The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2021.
Led by Jigar Raythatha, President and Chief Executive Officer, Constellation Pharmaceuticals is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company using its expertise in epigenetics to discover and develop novel therapeutics that address serious unmet medical needs in patients with various forms of cancer. Its two lead product candidates, pelabresib (CPI-0610), a BET inhibitor, and CPI-0209, a second-generation EZH2 inhibitor, are in mid- to late-stage clinical trials and have broad therapeutic potential to offer meaningful benefits to patients with various hematological and solid tumors.
MorphoSys also announced that it has entered into a long-term strategic funding partnership with Royalty Pharma plc (Nasdaq: RPRX). The proceeds will be used to support the financing of the Constellation transaction and development of the combined pipeline. Royalty Pharma will provide MorphoSys with access to up to $350 million in Development Funding Bonds with the flexibility to draw over a one-year period and will make additional payments of up to $150 million to MorphoSys upon reaching clinical, regulatory and commercial milestones for otilimab, gantenerumab and pelabresib. After completion of the transaction and subject to the required approvals of the management board and the supervisory board of MorphoSys, Royalty Pharma is expected to invest $100m in a cash capital increase of MorphoSys under an authorization to exclude subscription rights of existing shareholders. The new MorphoSys shares will be listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.
Led by Jean-Paul Kress, M.D., Chief Executive Officer, MorphoSys is advancing its own pipeline of new drug candidates and has created antibodies which are developed by partners in different areas of unmet medical need. In 2017, Tremfya® (guselkumab) – developed by Janssen Research & Development, LLC and marketed by Janssen Biotech, Inc., for the treatment of plaque psoriasis – became the first drug based on MorphoSys’ antibody technology to receive regulatory approval. In July 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval of the company’s proprietary product Monjuvi® (tafasitamab-cxix) in combination with lenalidomide in patients with a certain type of lymphoma.
FinSMEs
04/06/2021