YAFO Acts as Advisor for Karus Therapeutics for Closing an Acquisition Agreement of KA2237 with Convalife

2022-7-14

Convalife Pharma announced the closing of the global acquisition with Karus Therapeutics to acquire Karus’ CVL237 (KA2237) worldwide rights.

Transaction Overview

  • Convalife Pharma announced the closing of the global acquisition with Karus Therapeutics to acquire Karus’ CVL237 (KA2237) worldwide rights.
  • 甫康药业宣布与Karus Therapeutics 签署收购协议,获得CVL237(KA2237) 的全球专利、开发及商业化权益。
  • Prior to this, Convalife obtained the Greater China right of CVL237.
  • 此前甫康药业已获得该产品的大中华权益
  • YAFO Capital (Shanghai) acted as exclusive financial advisors on this transaction for Karus Therapeutics.
  • 雅法资本担任本次交易Karus Therapeutics的独家财务顾问。

 

(2022年7月14日,中国上海)甫康(上海)健康科技有限责任公司(Convalife Pharmaceuticals, 下简称“甫康药业”)宣布,其与英国公司Karus Therapeutics签署收购协议,获得一款磷酯酰肌醇-3-激酶 β/δ 双重高选择性抑制剂——CVL237(KA2237) 的全球专利、开发及商业化权益,此前甫康药业已获得该产品的大中华权益。通过此次收购,Karus 将全球开发KA2237的权益转让给甫康药业。雅法资本担任本次交易的财务顾问。

(14 July, 2022, Shanghai, China ) China’biotech company Convalife (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. (“Convalife Pharmaceuticals ”) announced the closing of the global acquisition between Convalife Pharmaceuticals and British company Karus Therapeutics Ltd. (“Karus”) to acquire Karus’ CVL237(KA2237) (phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase PI3K β/δ dual selective inhibitor) worldwide rights. Prior to this, Convalife obtained the Greater China right of CVL237. YAFO Capital (Shanghai) acted as exclusive financial advisors on this transaction for Karus Therapeutics. 

CVL237是由Karus公司研发的口服、强效和高选择性PI3K β/δ双重抑制剂。它已在美国MD Anderson Cancer Center 完成临床1期试验,并在中国和美国即将进入2期临床试验。根据公开资料, CVL237 临床1期试验(NCT02679196)结果显示,其在多线复发难治的淋巴瘤患者中具有良好的安全性和积极的单药临床活性(NCT02679196)。对包括弥散性大B细胞淋巴瘤(DLBCL), 滤泡性淋巴瘤(FL), 慢性淋巴细胞白血病(CLL)和套细胞淋巴瘤(MCL)在内的不同亚型淋巴瘤都有效。其中,有4例患者获得完全反应(CR)和 3例患者获得部分反应(PR)。


CVL237 is an oral, potent and highly selective inhibitor of the PI3K β andδ isoforms developed by Karus. CVL237 is currently the only PI3K β and δ dual isoform at the clinical stage1. It has the potential to deliver anti-tumour activity through direct tumour targeting and immunomodulation mechanisms. Phase I first in a human dose-escalation study in patients with B-cell lymphoma conducted at MD Anderson Cancer Center in the US. The results of the Phase 1 study show its manageable toxicity profile and promising single-agent clinical activity in relapsed refractory B cell lymphoma (NCT02679196). The responses were observed across lymphomas including DLBCL, FL, CLL and MCL, with 4 patients with Complete Response and 3 patients with Partial Response2

与此同时,CVL237还在其它疾病中表现出治疗潜力。现有临床前及临床数据显示,CVL237对BTK耐药和其他PI3Kδ抑制剂耐药的患者也有明显治疗作用。进一步临床前研究证明,CVL237PTEN突变实体瘤有显著抑制作用,PTEN基因突变在前列腺癌、乳腺癌、肺癌中都是常见的,例如多达50% 的去势抵抗前列腺癌中发现了PTEN基因的缺失或突变失活。此外,CVL237 还有潜力治疗活化 PI3K δ 缺陷综合征 (APDS),该罕见病暂无药物获批上市。

Additional data showed that PI3K β/δ dual inhibitors CVL237 have a significant inhibitory effect on BTK resistance and PI3K inhibitor resistance3. It also has a significant inhibitory effect on PTEN deficient solid tumor growth. Loss of function of the PTEN tumour suppressor is one of the most common events observed in prostate cancer, breast cancer, and lung cancer, etc. The deletion or mutational inactivation of the PTEN gene is found in up to 50% of castration-resistant prostate cancers4. CVL237 also has been potentially used to treat rare disease-activated PI3K δ syndrome (APDS). No drug has been approved for this rare disease5

Convalife Pharmaceuticals is an innovative, research-based, clinical-stage biotech company focused on bringing innovative therapies to cancer patients in China and around the world. The core team members are mainly from top pharmaceutical companies and work closely with well-known domestic and foreign research institutes. Convalife has developed new therapies with the potential of "First-in-class" and "Best-in-class", and has strong R & D capabilities. Convalife's innovative pipelines cover solid tumors and hematological tumors that are in urgent need, such as breast cancer, lung cancer, cholangiocarcinoma, prostate cancer, pancreatic cancer, gastric cancer, etc. The second-generation PARP inhibitor CVL218 shows better efficacy and safety than marketed PARP inhibitors. The dual PI3K β/δ inhibitor CVL237 and the innovative bispecific antibody have great potential. For more information, visit www.Convalife.com.

关于Karus

Karus是总部在英国Harwell Campus的创新药研发公司,主要致力于开发精准癌症治疗药物。通过此次交易,Karus 将全球开发KA2237的权益转让给甫康药业。

About Karus

Karus Therapeutics is an innovative biotech company based at the Harwell Campus in the UK. With this transaction, Karus is passing over the continued worldwide development of KA2237 to Convalife. 

关于甫康药业

甫康药业(Convalife Pharmaceuticals )是一家立足中国、面向全球的处于临床阶段的新药研发企业,致力于在肿瘤疾病领域开发创新药物。甫康药业核心团队主要来自国内顶尖药企,与中科院上海药物所等国内外知名研究所持续保持着多方面的合作。公司以中国及全球未满足的临床用药需求为导向,设计、研发具有“first-in-Class”或“best-in-Class”潜力的原创新药,布局新一代双特异抗体生物药以及差异化小分子药物,为广大肿瘤患者提供创新治疗方案。甫康药业产品管线覆盖了乳腺癌、肺癌、胆管癌、前列腺癌、胰腺癌、胃癌等国内外急需创新治疗方案的实体肿瘤和血液肿瘤,包括第二代PARP抑制剂CVL218,PI3K β/δ双重高选择性抑制剂CVL237,以及针对实体瘤的创新双特异性抗体等。

About Convalife

Convalife Pharmaceuticals is an innovative, research-based, clinical-stage biotech company focused on bringing innovative therapies for cancer patients in China and around the world. The core team members are mainly from top pharmaceutical companies, and work closely with well-known domestic and foreign research institutes. Convalife has developed new therapies with the potential of "First-in-class" and "Best-in-class", and has strong R & D capabilities. Convalife's innovative pipelines covers solid tumors and hematological tumors that are in urgent need, such as breast cancer, lung cancer, cholangiocarcinoma, prostate cancer, pancreatic cancer, gastric cancer, etc. The second-generation PARP inhibitor CVL218 shows better efficacy and safety than marketed PARP inhibitors.The dual PI3K β/δ inhibitor CVL237 and the innovative bispecific antibody have great potential. For more information, visit www.Convalife.com.

关于雅法资本

雅法资本成立于2013年,作为新型投资和金融服务机构,致力于中国及海外生物医药项目的投资、融资服务、产品引进和资产孵化等。雅法全球医疗专注于医药跨境交易,基于雅法在全球广泛的人脉与资源网络,在9年内成功推进了大量的海外项目进入中国市场并协助多个中国产品完成海外授权。雅法拥有经验丰富的全球交易团队,覆盖美国、日本 、欧洲等全球主要医药创新区域。核心合伙人均为华尔街资深投行人士或具有跨国药企经历,为客户交易提供强力支持。雅法总部位于上海,在伦敦、洛杉矶、东京、米兰、剑桥等地均设有分部。

About YAFO Capital

Founded in 2013, YAFO Capital is a Shanghai based boutique investment and advisory firm, with professional team in our China, U.S., and London offices. YAFO Life Sciences is a leading advisory boutique focused on asset transactions. During the past 9 years, YAFO has built a strong proven track record and closed dozens of in-licensing and out-licensing transactions with global pharma and biotech companies. YAFO has an experienced global transaction and industry team to support our client’s transactions. YAFO ranked as the No. 1 advisor for China cross border licensing transactions in 2021. For more information regarding YAFO, go to: www.yafocapital.com

参考文献

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3.Jain N, Singh S, Laliotis G, Hart A, Muhowski E, Kupcova K, Chrbolkova T, Khashab T, Chowdhury SM, Sircar A, Shirazi F, Singh RK, Alinari L, Zhu J, Havranek O, Tsichlis P, Woyach J, Baiocchi R, Samaniego F, Sehgal L. Targeting phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase-β and -δ for Bruton tyrosine kinase resistance in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. Blood Adv. 2020 Sep 22;4(18):4382-4392. doi: 10.1182/bloodadvances.2020001685. PMID: 32926124; PMCID: PMC7509871.

4.Jamaspishvili T, Berman DM, Ross AE, Scher HI, De Marzo AM, Squire JA, Lotan TL. Clinical implications of PTEN loss in prostate cancer. Nat Rev Urol. 2018 Apr;15(4):222-234. doi: 10.1038/nrurol.2018.9. Epub 2018 Feb 20. PMID: 29460925; PMCID: PMC7472658.

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