Arrowhead takes over Alvos Thera in stock deal

USA-based nano-medicine developer Arrowhead Research Corp (Nasdaq: ARWR) says it has acquired Alvos Therapeutics in a two part stock deal. Formerly known as Mercator Therapeutics, Alvos is a privately-held company that licensed a large platform of proprietary human-derived homing peptides from MD Anderson Cancer Center (MDACC) and the method for their discovery.

In exchange for all the outstanding shares of Alvos, Arrowhead issued an upfront payment of 315,467 shares (valued at around $2 million at current rates) in restricted Arrowhead common stock. Alvos stockholders are also eligible to receive additional issuances of stock valued at up to $23.5 million at the time of issuance based on the achievement of clinical and regulatory milestones, which begin with demonstrating statistically significant efficacy in clinical trials. Alvos stockholders could receive additional Arrowhead stock as the first three drugs using the new technology achieve certain sales milestones.

The Alvos technology, designed to specifically bind and enter tumor cells and the vasculature supporting tumors, is thought to be the world’s largest library of human-derived targeting agents, representing thousands of unique peptide sequences. These targeting sequences can be linked to Arrowhead’s siRNA delivery vehicles as well as to traditional small molecule drugs to preferentially shuttle them into target cells.