October 2021 Top Biopharma Deal: Xencor – Janssen for Plamotamab and XmAb Bispecific Antibodies

The top deal upfront for May 2022 was the Dragonfly Therapeutics development and commercialization deal with Gilead Sciences for solid tumors. Gilead has an exclusive, worldwide option to develop and commercialize additional NK cell engager programs by using its Tri-specific NK Engager (TriNKET) platform after the completion of certain preclinical activities. Dragonfly will receive $300M up front and is eligible to receive undisclosed opt-in payments and development, regulatory, and commercial milestones, plus up to 20% royalties.

The top deal upfront for April 2022 was the Harbour BioMed development and commercialization deal with AstraZeneca for solid tumors. AstraZeneca will be responsible for all costs for development and commercialization. HBM will receive $25M up front and is eligible for up to $325M in development, regulatory, and commercial milestones, plus undisclosed tiered royalties.

The top deal upfront for March 2022 was the IGM development and commercialization deal with Sanofi for cancer, immunology, and inflammation. IGM will receive $150M up front and is eligible to receive up to $6.015B in regulatory and commercial milestones, which includes $940M for each of 3 cancer targets and $1.065B for each of 3 immunology/inflammation targets. Additionally, Sanofi has expressed an interest in purchasing up to $100M of IGM non-voting common stock in a public financing.

The top deal upfront for February 2022 was the Heidelberg development and commercialization partnership with Huadong for HDP-101, HDP-103, and options for HDP-102 (CD37-ATAC) and HDP-104. Heidelberg will receive $20M up front and is eligible for up to $449M in milestones with additional $461M in option payments upon exercise. Additionally, Huadong will invest EUR 105M (35%) in Heidelberg, with an initial commitment of EUR 80M by purchasing 12,408,649 shares at EUR 6.44 per share.

The top deal upfront for January 2022 was the Beam Therapeutics research partnership with Pfizer with an option to license in vivo base editing programs. Beam will receive $300M up front, up to up to $1.05B in development, regulatory, and sales milestones, plus royalties per licensed program. If Beam opts in to co-develop/co-promote a program, the companies will share cost and profits 65%/35% (Pfizer/Beam).

The top deal upfront for December 2021 was the Foghorn – Loxo (Eli Lilly) partnership for Foghorn’s Gene Traffic Control platform. Foghorn will receive $300M up front, a $80M upfront equity investment, and up to $1.3B in potential milestones, plus a US cost/profit split and ex-US royalties.

The top deal upfront for November 2021 was the Owkin – Sanofi artificial intelligence and federated learning platform research partnership to advance Sanofi’s oncology pipeline. Owkin will receive a $180M upfront equity investment, $90M in R&D funding over 3 years, and is eligible for additional undisclosed R&D milestones.

The top deal upfront for September 2021 was the REGENXBIO – AbbVie deal for RGX-314 for wet AMD, diabetic retinopathy, and other chronic retinal diseases. REGENXBIO will receive $370M up front and is eligible for up to $1.38B in milestones, plus tiered royalties on net sales of RGX-314 outside the US and 50% of profits in the US.

The top deal upfront for August 2021 was the RemeGen – Seagen deal for HER2-targeted ADC disitamab vedotin for solid tumors. RemeGen will receive $200M in cash up front and is eligible to receive up to $2.4 billion in milestones, plus tiered, high single-digit to mid-teen royalties.

The top biopharma deal upfront for July 2021 was Arvinas and Pfizer’s partnership for PROTAC protein degrader ARV-471 ER+/HER2- breast cancer. Arvinas will receive $650M in cash up front, $350M in an equity investment, and is eligible to receive up to $1.4 billion in milestones, plus a 50% cost and profit split.