Amgen takeover of Nuevolution provides rare valuation for preclin immune/inflam assets
US giant Amgen has announced an agreed takeover offer of SEK1.6bn (c$167m) for Nuevolution, a Swedish biotech, in a move which puts a monetary value of a small number of orally available preclincal assets, mostly in the immune/inflamamtory space. This area has seen relatively few business development transactions in recent years and those have had occurred were at a later stage of development, hence the takeover may provide an interesting precident for companies with similar staged compounds. One such is the UK’s Sareum, which has an orally available preclincial immun/inflammatory molecule, albeit with a different mechanism (Tyk2 inhibition) to those of Nuevolution.
The offer represents a premium of 169% to Nuevolution’s last closing share price and adjusting for cash (SEK86m at the end of March), suggests an enterprise value of SEK1,524m ($158m). Nuevolution’s lead programme is a RORγt inhibitor, which is partnered with Almirall for dermatologic indications (including psoriatic arthritis) and is approaching the IND stage. Nuevolution also has a BET-BD1 inhibitor, NUE20798, which has be shown activity in the atopic dermatitis mouse model and an IL-17A blocker programme, which has shown activity in an immune colitis model, a standard preclinical test for inflammatory bowel disease and ulcerative colitis.
Although Nuevolution has a broader pipeline than that of Sareum, its RORγt inhibitor, BET-BD1 inhibitor and IL-17A blocker are all at a similar stage of development to the UK firm’s Tyk2 inhibitor, SDC-1801. Sareum is one of a handful of companies that have developed molecules with this particular mechanism, where the lead compounds BMS-986165 and PF-06700841 are in a series of late stage trials. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s molecule is in Phase III studies for psoriasis and Phase II trials for lupus, Crohn’s, ulcerative colitis and psoriatic arthritis, while Pfizer’s compound is in Phase II studies for Crohn’s, psoriasis, ulcerative colitis, lupus, vitiligo and atopic dermatitis.