London based deal experts are the exclusive advisors for this and the ongoing partnering efforts for WM-A1-3389.

London, UK, 08 February 2023: PharmaVentures is pleased to announce that it acted as exclusive advisor for Wellmarker Bio Co., Ltd (WMBIO) on its collaboration with MSD (Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA) to evaluate WM-A1-3389 in combination with KEYTRUDA® (pembrolizumab), MSD’s anti-PD-1 therapy.

Under the agreement with MSD, WMBIO will sponsor the Phase 1 (or Phase 1b) clinical trial for WM-A1-3389, a novel therapeutic antibody for Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) patients with low or no PD-L1 expression, in combination with KEYTRUDA. Some NSCLC patients with low or no PD-L1 expression have shown limited response to treatment with immunotherapies and there is a high unmet need in these patient populations. WMBIO is also planning to expand the target patient group to other solid tumour indications.

 Adrian Dawkes, Managing Director at PharmaVentures, said “We are pleased to have assisted WMBIO in establishing this collaboration with MSD. We have been working with Wellmarker Bio for some time now and it is gratifying to see this collaboration come to fruition. We look forward to helping Wellmarker with more partnerships as their pipeline progresses.”

Dong-Hoon Jin, CEO of Wellmarker Bio, said “This clinical trial collaboration with MSD holds great significance for WMBIO as it allows us to evaluate a first-in-class drug with a novel mechanism in combination with KEYTRUDA. We engaged PharmaVentures as our advisors for this collaboration and continue to work with them in partnering for WM-A1-3389.”

Fintan Walton, Founder and CEO of PharmaVentures, said “We are delighted to be supporting our client WMBIO in their collaboration with MSD. PharmaVentures has an extensive industry network and the specialist expertise to connect the Korean and Western Biopharma industries and vice versa, enabling them to collaborate through licensing and M&A deals.”

 KEYTRUDA® is a registered trademark of Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC, a subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA.

– Ends –

 

For further information, please contact:

Lisa Holloway
Senior Marketing Manager
Phone: +44 (0) 1865 332700
lisa@pharmaventures.com

Distributed by PR Newswire (Cision)

 

About PharmaVentures

PharmaVentures is a premier transaction advisory firm and a leading international company in partnering, M&A deals and strategic alliances.

For over 30 years, PharmaVentures has acted as advisor on over 1000 deal related projects covering licensing, mergers, acquisitions, divestments, and joint venture activities for companies worldwide.

PharmaVentures’ deep bank of specialist experience, deal analytics and network of contacts among innovators and large pharma makes it uniquely placed to support business in all aspects of deal making and strategic planning.

PharmaVentures is well known for its deep insight into deal structures and its success for generating partnering interest.

PharmaVentures’ services include:

• M&A (divestments, mergers, acquisitions, and strategic transactions)
• Licensing (in and out licensing)
• Fundraising Support
• Strategy (commercialisation, deal strategy, due diligence, market entry)
• Valuations (licensing, M&A, and fundraising)
• Pricing and Market Access

PharmaVentures is based in London, UK, and employs over 30 professionals and has associates in Europe and Asia-Pacific.

NOTE: This Press release is issued by PharmaVentures Limited, whose wholly owned subsidiary PharmaVentures Capital Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (741356). This communication is for information purposes only and does not constitute an offer or solicitation to purchase or engage in any investment products, securities or services and should not be deemed as such.

For more details, visit https://www.pharmaventures.com

About Wellmarker Bio

Wellmarker Bio Co., Ltd (WMBIO) is the first company to be spun out from the renowned Asan Medical Center, Korea’s largest hospital. It focuses on the development of novel anticancer drugs derived from comprehensive biomarker analysis. Since it was founded in 2016, WMBIO has developed 9 first-in-class drugs for solid tumor indications. Having access to a wide array of patient samples from Asia and using predictive biomarkers to guide therapeutic development in innovative ways have allowed WMBIO to rapidly move its assets from exploratory to preclinical and then into early clinical stages. WMBIO’s R&D strategy is to focus mainly on drug discovery and early-stage development of lead compounds to build a deep and wide pipeline of products, with the most advanced assets in phase 1 clinical trials. Once a drug candidate is at that stage, WMBIO would seek to find global pharmaceutical companies to partner with for co-development or licensing.

 

About WM-A1-3389

WM-A1-3389 is a novel therapeutic antibody targeting a new immune checkpoint protein discovered by Wellmarker Bio. WM-A1-3389’s novel target is abundantly expressed in a variety of cancer types and has demonstrated efficacy across different PBMC humanized models. An additive benefit of WM-A1-3389 and anti-PD-1 antibody was evidenced in preclinical mouse models including PD-1-resistant CT26 and LLC-1 mouse models.

 

 

 

London-based deal experts are the advisors for this collaboration and the ongoing partnering efforts for IntoCell’s platform technologies and its lead programme, B7-H3 ADC.

London, UK, 05 January 2023: PharmaVentures is pleased to announce that it acted as exclusive advisor for IntoCell on its agreement with ADC Therapeutics (NYSE: ADCT).

 

IntoCell, a South Korean biotech developing novel antibody drug conjugate (ADC) platform technologies, has signed a Material Transfer Agreement (MTA) with option to license with ADC Therapeutics. Under the agreement, IntoCell will provide proprietary drug-linkers developed using its Ortho-Hydroxy Protected Aryl Sulfate (OHPAS™) system and payload modification technology (PMT). ADC Therapeutics, a commercial-stage biotechnology company developing next-generation ADCs, will conjugate its antibody to IntoCell’s drug-linker and perform in vitro, in vivo, and toxicology experiments.

 

Stephen Waterman, Managing Director at PharmaVentures, said “We are pleased to have assisted IntoCell with this agreement, in addition to multiple research collaborations and MTAs previously executed, and we look forward to seeing the results of combining IntoCell’s linker-payload with ADC’s antibodies.”

 

Tae Kyo Park, Founder and CEO of IntoCell, said “We are pleased to be collaborating with ADC Therapeutics, one of the leading companies in the ADC area. We hope to leverage ADC Therapeutics’ experience with the development and commercialisation of its own ADC ZYNLONTA®. We have been working closely with PharmaVentures for the last few years, during which time PharmaVentures has been supporting our partnering efforts for our OHPAS and PMT platform technologies and our B7-H3 ADC.”

 

Fintan Walton, Founder and CEO of PharmaVentures, said “We are delighted to be supporting our client IntoCell with partnering advice. IntoCell is a great example of the emerging highly innovative Korean biotech sector. This latest deal highlights PharmaVentures’ success in helping Korean and Western Biopharma companies in forming alliances.”

 

– Ends –

 

For further information, please contact:

 

Stephen Waterman
Managing Director
Phone: +44 (0) 7931 144 097
stephen@pharmaventures.com

Distributed by PR Newswire (Cision)

 

About PharmaVentures

PharmaVentures is a premier transaction advisory firm and a leading international company in partnering, M&A deals and strategic alliances.

For over 30 years, PharmaVentures has acted as advisor on over 1000 deal related projects covering licensing, mergers, acquisitions, divestments, and joint venture activities for companies worldwide.

PharmaVentures’ deep bank of specialist experience, deal analytics and network of contacts among innovators and large pharma makes it uniquely placed to support business in all aspects of deal making and strategic planning.

PharmaVentures is well known for its deep insight into deal structures and its success for generating partnering interest.

PharmaVentures’ services include:

• M&A (divestments, mergers, acquisitions, and strategic transactions)
• Licensing (in and out licensing)
• Fundraising Support
• Strategy (commercialisation, deal strategy, due diligence, market entry)
• Valuations (licensing, M&A, and fundraising)
• Pricing and Market Access

PharmaVentures is based in London, UK, and employs over 30 professionals and has associates in Europe and Asia-Pacific.

NOTE: This Press release is issued by PharmaVentures Limited, whose wholly owned subsidiary PharmaVentures Capital Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (741356). This communication is for information purposes only and does not constitute an offer or solicitation to purchase or engage in any investment products, securities or services and should not be deemed as such.

For more details, visit https://www.pharmaventures.com

About IntoCell, the OHPAS linker and PMT technology

IntoCell has developed a state-of-the-art linker technology comprising of a novel self-immolative group based on Ortho-Hydroxy Protected Aryl Sulfate (OHPAS) chemistry that works with a wide variety of phenolic and non-phenolic payloads. The OHPAS linker was designed to accommodate a wide variety of functional groups and triggering groups. The OHPAS Linker can be triggered by methods that include enzymes (i.e., lysosomal), light, and pH. The resulting ADCs have shown high stability, solubility, and very fast payload release profiles. IntoCell has also devised another ADC platform technology called Payload Modification Technology (PMT) in which temporary modifying groups have been incorporated into traditional payloads. PMT has improved therapeutic index of ADCs with significant reduction of normal cell’s uptake, resulting in normal cells being minimally affected. By utilising PMT and OHPAS linker technologies, IntoCell has successfully delivered a preclinical candidate in the B7-H3 ADC program. ITC-6146RO is the lead candidate that shows strong and long-lived potency in a variety of murine xenograft and PDX models with excellent safety.

For more information, please visit http://www.intocell.co.kr/

 

 

 

London, UK, 24 March, 2022

PharmaVentures is pleased to announce that it acted as transaction advisor to Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and EPFL in Switzerland on their commercial terms related to the collaboration and licensing of their highly potent SARS-CoV-2 monoclonal antibodies to the newly founded biopharmaceutical company Aerium Therapeutics, based in Boston, MA, USA and Lausanne, Switzerland.

Aerium Therapeutics is focused on discovering and developing novel monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) and antiviral treatments against SARS-CoV-2. Its initial efforts are focused on two monoclonal antibodies that, in preclinical testing, have shown potent neutralisation of important COVID-19 Variants of Concern (VOCs), including Delta, Omicron and the recent Omicron subvariants BA.1, BA.1.1, BA.2, and is thus markedly more potent than all authorised or clinically advanced anti-SARS-CoV-2 mAbs. 

The company has recently emerged with substantial Series A financial backing by the founding investor Omega Funds with the participation of F-Prime Capital. Aerium was seeded and incubated by Omega Funds in 2021 and started in collaboration with its two scientific founders, Dr. Giuseppe Pantaleo (CHUV) and Dr. Didier Trono (EPFL) in Switzerland. Both scientists are applying their substantial expertise and research capabilities to discover new mAbs against SARS-CoV-2.

This follows the recent announcement that this novel antibody is one of the most powerful identified so far against all SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern. In addition to its antiviral properties, the antibody has been designed to provide protection to those patients most vulnerable.

Fintan Walton, Founder and CEO of PharmaVentures, said “We are delighted to have advised CHUV and EPFL on their commercial terms for this break-through research that has significant potential to protect those who are left as most vulnerable to COVID-19.”

Dr. Giuseppe Pantaleo, Professor of Medicine at the CHUV, Head of Immunology and Allergy Division said “Our collaboration with Aerium Therapeutics will be key in delivering these antibodies to the clinical stage, where they have the potential to play an important role in the control and the prevention of COVID-19, particularly in all those who are not protected by vaccination.”

– Ends –

For further information, please contact:

Lisa Holloway
Senior Marketing Manager
Phone: +44 (0) 1865 332700
lisa@pharmaventures.com

Distributed by PR Newswire (Cision)

About PharmaVentures

PharmaVentures is a premier transaction advisory firm and a leading international company in partnering, M&A deals and strategic alliances. For 30 years, PharmaVentures has acted as advisor on over 900 deal related projects covering licensing, mergers, acquisitions, divestments, and joint venture activities for companies world-wide.

PharmaVentures’ deep bank of specialist experience, deal analytics and network of contacts among innovators and large pharma makes it uniquely placed to support business in all aspects of deal making and strategic planning. PharmaVentures is well known for its deep insight into deal structures and its success for generating partnering interest.

PharmaVentures’ services include:

• M&A (divestments, mergers, acquisitions, and strategic transactions)
• Licensing (in and out licensing)
• Fundraising Support
• Strategy (commercialisation, deal strategy, due diligence, market entry)
• Valuation and Positioning (licensing, M&A, and fundraising)

NOTE: This Press release is issued by PharmaVentures Limited, whose wholly owned subsidiary PharmaVentures Capital Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (741356). This communication is for information purposes only and does not constitute an offer or solicitation to purchase or engage in any investment products, securities or services and should not be deemed as such.

For more details, visit https://www.pharmaventures.com

About CHUV

Lausanne University Hospital is one of the five university hospitals in Switzerland, with Geneva, Bern, Basel and Zurich. With its 16 clinical and medico-technical departments and their numerous services, the CHUV is renowned for its academic achievements in health care, research, and teaching.

The CHUV is also a well-known center of medical education and research thanks to its collaboration with the Faculty of Biology and Medicine of the University of Lausanne and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL). Together, these institutions form a vast campus in the Lake Geneva region.

About EPFL

EPFL (www.epfl.ch), one of the two Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology, based in Lausanne, is Europe’s most cosmopolitan technical university with students, professors and staff from over 120 nations. A dynamic environment, open to Switzerland and the world, EPFL is centered on its three missions: teaching, research and technology transfer. EPFL works together with an extensive network of partners including other universities and institutes of technology, developing and emerging countries, secondary schools and colleges, industry and economy, political circles and the general public, to bring about real impact for society. 

London, UK, 10 February 2022

PharmaVentures today announced it has moved its operational headquarters from Oxford to London as part of its continued strategic expansion. The company will retain its remaining operational and administrative functions at its new registered office in Oxford.

Dr Fintan Walton, Chief Executive and Founder of PharmaVentures said: “As a leading global transaction advisory firm, it makes sense that PharmaVentures moves its functional operations to one of world’s leading financial cities. We wanted a location that reflects PharmaVentures’ forward-thinking culture and enterprise. So, in the end London was the obvious choice.”

The new London Headquarters is close to Paddington Station, serving both Oxford and London’s Heathrow Airport, and making it extremely convenient for its global clients travelling to London. Located in the West End and in the newly developed and dynamic city campus called Paddington Central, the offices are just a short walk from London’s famous and quaint Little Venice where the Grand Union Canal meets Regent’s Canal.

The new London address is: One Kingdom Street, Fourth Floor, Paddington, London W2 6BD, United Kingdom.

The new Oxford and registered address is: Oxford House, Oxford Business Park South, Oxford OX4 2JY, United Kingdom.

– Ends –

For further information, please contact:

Lisa Holloway
Senior Marketing Manager
Phone: +44 (0) 1865 332700
lisa@pharmaventures.com

Distributed by PR Newswire (Cision)

About PharmaVentures

PharmaVentures is a premier transaction advisory firm and a leading international company in partnering, M&A deals and strategic alliances. For 30 years, PharmaVentures has acted as advisor on over 900 deal related projects covering licensing, mergers, acquisitions, divestments, and joint venture activities for companies world-wide.

PharmaVentures’ deep bank of specialist experience, deal analytics and network of contacts among innovators and large pharma makes it uniquely placed to support business in all aspects of deal making and strategic planning. PharmaVentures is well known for its deep insight into deal structures and its success for generating partnering interest.

PharmaVentures’ services include:

• M&A (divestments, mergers, acquisitions, and strategic transactions)
• Licensing (in and out licensing)
• Fundraising Support
• Strategy (commercialisation, deal strategy, due diligence, market entry)
• Valuation and Positioning (licensing, M&A, and fundraising)

NOTE: This Press release is issued by PharmaVentures Limited, whose wholly owned subsidiary PharmaVentures Capital Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (741356). This communication is for information purposes only and does not constitute an offer or solicitation to purchase or engage in any investment products, securities or services and should not be deemed as such.

For more details, visit https://www.pharmaventures.com