The highly lucrative immuno-oncology market has been the focus area of several big pharma giants over the last couple of years. In 2014, we have seen several immuno-oncology deals. Interest in this filed remains unabated in 2015 with quite a few deals being announced so far this year.
Earlier in the week, AstraZeneca (AZN) announced a deal with a privately held biotechnology company, Omnis Pharmaceuticals. The deal will allow MedImmune, AstraZeneca’s global biologics research and development arm, to combine key investigational immunotherapy agents with Omnis’ lead oncolytic virus program.
The program is currently being developed in a phase I study as a monotherapy for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma and other forms of cancer that have metastasised to the liver.
As per the terms of the agreement, AstraZeneca will have the license to develop and commercialize Omnis’ lead oncolytic virus program. The objective of the deal is to progress the virus program to combination studies with AstraZeneca’s immunotherapy molecules.
We note that AstraZeneca expects its oncology business to become the sixth growth platform after Brilinta, diabetes, respiratory, emerging markets and Japan. AstraZeneca expects its global oncology business to grow to a quarter of the company’s total sales (around $11.5 billion as per company assumptions) by 2023. The company has already formed alliances with the likes of Roche (RHHBY) which have a strong presence in the oncology market.
Meanwhile, Agenus (AGEN) has also entered into an immuno-oncology agreement with Incyte Corp. (INCY). The agreement focuses on the development of immuno-therapeutics utilizing Agenus’ proprietary Retrocyte Display antibody discovery platform and Incyte’s expertise in small molecule discovery (read more: Agenus Soars on Immuno-Oncology Agreement with Incyte).
AstraZeneca carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Incyte is another stock worth considering in the health care space carrying a similar rank.
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