Paris\/ Marseile\/ Munich \u2014 Inves\u00adtors announce that Ipsen (Euron\u00adext: IPN; ADR: IPSEY) has ente\u00adred into a defi\u00adni\u00adtive agree\u00adment to acquire its port\u00adfo\u00adlio company ImCheck Thera\u00adpeu\u00adtics for EUR 350 million at closing in a tran\u00adsac\u00adtion valued at up to USD 1 billion.<\/p>\n
EQT Life Scien\u00adces inves\u00adted in the company in 2017 as part of a consor\u00adtium of inves\u00adtors and has since provi\u00added exten\u00adsive support, inclu\u00adding at board level. GIMV is also part of the inves\u00adtor consortium.<\/p>\n
Vincent Brichard<\/strong> (photo \u00a9 eqt), Venture Part\u00adner at EQT Life Scien\u00adces<\/strong> and board member at ImCheck Thera\u00adpeu\u00adtics, said: \u201cWe are very proud to have supported ImCheck on its path to this signi\u00adfi\u00adcant acqui\u00adsi\u00adtion by Ipsen. The tran\u00adsac\u00adtion unders\u00adcores the strength of ImCheck\u2019s plat\u00adform and the company\u2019s excep\u00adtio\u00adnal leader\u00adship and team. It is also a testa\u00adment to our ability to unco\u00adver hidden gems and support trans\u00adfor\u00adma\u00adtive biotech companies.\u201d<\/p>\n ImCheck Thera\u00adpeu\u00adtics, based in Marseille, France, is pionee\u00adring the field of immuno-onco\u00adlogy thera\u00adpies by targe\u00adting buty\u00adro\u00adphi\u00adlins, a novel group of immu\u00adno\u00adre\u00adgu\u00adla\u00adtory prote\u00adins. Its lead drug, ICT01, is curr\u00adently being tested in pati\u00adents with acute myeloid leuk\u00ademia (AML) who are not suita\u00adble for stan\u00addard treat\u00adment. The initial results of the Phase I\/II trial show promi\u00adsing respon\u00adses. ICT01 is a first-in-class mono\u00adclonal anti\u00adbody direc\u00adted against BTN3A, an important immu\u00adno\u00adre\u00adgu\u00adla\u00adtory mole\u00adcule that is widely expres\u00adsed in many types of cancer. <\/p>\n Pierre d\u2019Epen\u00adoux, CEO of ImCheck Thera\u00adpeu\u00adtics, said: \u201cThis tran\u00adsac\u00adtion is an excep\u00adtio\u00adnal mile\u00adstone for ImCheck and shines a spot\u00adlight on the pionee\u00adring science of French univer\u00adsi\u00adties. EQT Life Scien\u00adces\u2019 support went far beyond finan\u00adcing \u2014 their stra\u00adte\u00adgic advice and confi\u00addence in my leader\u00adship skills were criti\u00adcal to our success.\u201d<\/p>\n Toge\u00adther with the sale of Amolyt Pharma to Astra\u00adZe\u00adneca<\/strong> in 2024, EQT Life Scien\u00adces has thus achie\u00adved two successful exits from its port\u00adfo\u00adlio as part of the \u201cFrance 2030\u201d invest\u00adment program \u2014 a govern\u00adment initia\u00adtive to promote the most promi\u00adsing French biotech inno\u00adva\u00adtions. This under\u00adlines EQT Life Scien\u00adces\u2019 exper\u00adtise in iden\u00adti\u00adfy\u00ading leading Euro\u00adpean biotech compa\u00adnies and deve\u00adlo\u00adping them into global success stories. <\/p>\n The tran\u00adsac\u00adtion is expec\u00adted to be comple\u00adted by the end of the first quar\u00adter of 2026, subject to custo\u00admary closing condi\u00adti\u00adons, inclu\u00adding regu\u00adla\u00adtory appr\u00adovals in accordance with French and US regulations.<\/p>\n About EQT Life Sciences<\/strong><\/p>\n EQT Life Scien\u00adces was foun\u00added in 2022 follo\u00adwing the inte\u00adgra\u00adtion of LSP, a leading Euro\u00adpean venture capi\u00adtal firm in life scien\u00adces and health\u00adcare, into the EQT plat\u00adform. As LSP, the firm has raised more than EUR 3.0 billion (USD 3.5 billion) and supported the growth of over 150 compa\u00adnies since it began inves\u00adt\u00ading over 30 years ago. With a dedi\u00adca\u00adted team of expe\u00adri\u00aden\u00adced invest\u00adment profes\u00adsio\u00adnals with back\u00adgrounds in medi\u00adcine, science, busi\u00adness and finance, EQT Life Scien\u00adces is commit\u00adted to back\u00ading the brigh\u00adtest inven\u00adtors whose ideas can make a real diffe\u00adrence to pati\u00adents\u2019 lives. \u2014 www.eqt.com <\/p>\n About ImCheck Therapeutics <\/strong><\/p>\n ImCheck Thera\u00adpeu\u00adtics is deve\u00adlo\u00adping a new gene\u00adra\u00adtion of immu\u00adno\u00adthe\u00adra\u00adpeu\u00adtic anti\u00adbo\u00addies targe\u00adting buty\u00adro\u00adphi\u00adlins, a novel super\u00adfa\u00admily of immune modu\u00adla\u00adtors. By unlo\u00adcking the poten\u00adtial of \u03b39\u03b42 T cells, ImCheck\u2019s inno\u00adva\u00adtive approach has the poten\u00adtial to revo\u00adlu\u00adtio\u00adnize treat\u00adments in the fields of onco\u00adlogy, auto\u00adim\u00admune dise\u00ada\u00adses and infec\u00adtious diseases. <\/p>\n The lead clini\u00adcal-stage program, ICT01, has advan\u00adced into late-stage clini\u00adcal trials and demons\u00adtra\u00adtes a unique mecha\u00adnism of action that modu\u00adla\u00adtes both innate and adap\u00adtive immu\u00adnity. These \u201cfirst-in-class\u201d acti\u00advat\u00ading anti\u00adbo\u00addies may provide supe\u00adrior clini\u00adcal outco\u00admes compared to first-gene\u00adra\u00adtion immu\u00adno\u00adthe\u00adrapy approa\u00adches, parti\u00adcu\u00adlarly in meaningful combi\u00adna\u00adti\u00adons with immune check\u00adpoint inhi\u00adbi\u00adtors and immu\u00adno\u00admo\u00addu\u00adla\u00adtory cancer drugs. In addi\u00adtion, ImCheck\u2019s pipe\u00adline compounds are progres\u00adsing towards clini\u00adcal deve\u00adlo\u00adp\u00adment for auto\u00adim\u00admune and infec\u00adtious diseases. <\/p>\n