AstraZeneca boosts oncology portfolio with up to $440 million acquisition

15 October 2013

Anglo-Swedish drug major AstraZeneca (LSE: AZN) revealed this morning (October 15) that its US biologics subsidiary MedImmune has acquired Spirogen, a privately-held biotech company focused on antibody-drug conjugate technology for use in oncology.

MedImmune has also entered into a collaboration agreement with ADC Therapeutics to jointly develop two of ADC Therapeutics’ antibody-drug conjugate programs in preclinical development. MedImmune will also make an equity investment in ADC Therapeutics, which has an existing licensing agreement with Spirogen.

The Spirogen group was founded in 2001 as a spin-out from several institutions including University College, London, UK, and partly funded by Cancer Research UK. It is majority owned by global private equity company Auven Therapeutics.

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