Merck (MSD) has acquired Yale University spinout company Modifi Biosciences, picking up a preclinical glioblastoma asset in a deal that could reach $1.3 billion.
Per the deal, Merck, through a subsidiary, bought all outstanding shares of Modifi for $30 million upfront. Modifi shareholders are also eligible to receive potential milestone payments totaling up to $1.3 billion.
Key to the deal is MOD-246, an orally-available novel small molecule that targets cancer cells lacking expression of a key DNA repair protein called O6-methylguanine methyl transferase (MGMT). When cancer cells have a nonfunctional version of MGMT, glioblastoma is often treated with the chemotherapy drug temozolomide (TMZ) but resistance develops in more than half of patients. But by bypassing the conventional approach of indirectly targeting proteins in cancer cells, Modifi says it can eradicate cancer via direct DNA modification.
Modifi's core platform has been validated in vitro and in vivo, in pre-clinical models of gliomas and other cancers with loss of MGMT expression.The studies revealed anti-tumor activity with a highly favorably therapeutic index, selectively targeting tumors with loss of MGMT over normal tissue.
Glioblastoma is the most common type of brain cancer and is highly aggressive, with a five-year survival rate of around 5%.
Modifi, which has raised $10.7 million in seed funding and is backed by investors including American Cancer Society's investment arm, BrightEdge, has offices and labs at the Elm City Bioscience Center, a 110,000 square-foot facility within walking distance of Yale that supports emerging New Haven biotechnology companies.