AC Immune to acquire Parkinson's vaccine candidate; picks up investors

Swiss biotech AC Immune (Nasdaq: ACIU) today announced that it is acquiring Austrian vaccine specialist Affiris’ portfolio of therapeutics targeting alpha-synuclein (a-syn), notably Affiris PD01, a clinically-validated active vaccine candidate for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease, as well as cash.

The all-stock asset acquisition is valued at $58.7 million. AC Immune’s cash position, as well as the company’s investor base, is also being strengthened by a total of $30 million in gross proceeds stemming from the asset acquisition and a parallel financing that are adding Athos Service GmbH, First Capital Partner GmbH, and MIG Fonds, the lead investors in COVID-19 vaccine innovator BioNTech (Nasdaq: BNTX) as new AC Immune shareholders.

Under the terms of the agreement, AC Immune is acquiring all of Affiris’ assets and underlying intellectual property related to active vaccine candidates targeting a-syn and $5 million in cash for 7.1 million shares based on a price of $8.26 per common share. This share price represents a 10.7% premium compared to the closing price of AC Immune shares as of July 23, 2021.