Biogen Licenses Vanqua Bio’s Immunology Drug In $1.06B Deal

• Biogen will obtain exclusive worldwide rights to Vanqua’s investigational drug that targets a protein involved in inflammatory responses.
• Vanqua will receive $70 million upfront payments and will be eligible to receive up to $990 million in milestone payments.
• Biogen will lead all future development, manufacturing, and commercialization efforts for the experimental drug. 
   

Biogen Inc. (BIIB) on Friday announced a license agreement with Vanqua Bio granting it exclusive worldwide rights to the latter’s preclinical drug candidate targeting a range of inflammatory disorders.

Under the deal, Biogen will obtain exclusive worldwide rights to Vanqua’s investigational drug that targets a protein involved in inflammatory responses.

Terms Of The Deal

Vanqua will receive $70 million in upfront payments and be eligible to receive up to $990 million in milestone payments, in addition to tiered royalties on potential net sales, as per the agreement. Biogen will lead all future development, manufacturing, and commercialization efforts of the experimental drug.

Jane Grogan, Executive Vice President and Head of Research at Biogen, said that advancing the program will enable it to deepen focus on immunological diseases.

Biogen expects to file an application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for approval of the candidate in 2027, if results remain supportive. In preclinical studies, the program demonstrated activity as well as a safety and tolerability profile supportive of advancing it into clinical development, the company noted.

Last year, Biogen also acquired privately held Human Immunology Biosciences for up to $1.8 billion to expand its immunology portfolio.

How Did Stocktwits Users React?

BIIB stock rose 1% on Friday morning at the time of writing. On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around BIIB stayed within the ‘bullish’ territory over the past 24 hours, while message volume remained at ‘low’ levels.

According to Koyfin data, 16 of the 35 analysts covering Biogen rate it ‘Buy’ or higher, while 19 rate it ‘Hold’. The stock has an average price target of $172.55, representing a potential upside of about 14%.

BIIB stock is down by 1% this year and by about 18% over the past 12 months. 

Read also: Eli Lilly To Acquire Adverum Biotechnologies

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