Astellas to purchase Agensys

Astellas Pharma has announced that its Astellas US Holding subsidiary has signed an agreement to purchase Agensys for a total sum of $387 million (187.96 million pounds), with the assumption of around $30 million net cash balance at closing.

Under the terms of the deal, existing shareholders in Agensys will have the right to receive additional milestone payments up to a total maximum of $150 upon the attainment of pre-specified landmarks.

Agensys specialises in oncology and therapeutic antibody research, with the firm choosing candidate targets through the application of differential gene expression technology to human tissues.

The firm has identified 30 proprietary candidate targets over 14 types of cancer, leveraging its experience in the use of its optimised hybridoma process.

Masafumi Nogimori, chief executive officer of Astellas, said: “Astellas will continue to build our company into a strong, global pharmaceutical leader.”

He added that the Agensys acquisition will form the basis of the company’s work in biologics and a key part of its oncology development, while the company welcomed employees from Agensys into Astellas.

In March 2006, Astellas Pharma paid 2.5 billion yen (11 million pounds) for the sales and development rights to antibodies owned by Immuno-Biological Laboratories.