Cancer-drug biotech Agensys sells to Astellas for $387M — but is it a pig in a poke?
Yet another biotech has succumbed to Big Pharma’s deep-pocketed blandishments. Agensys, a decade-old Santa Monica, Calif., biotech with an early-stage pipeline, just agreed to sell itself to Japan’s Astellas Pharma for $387 million in cash. The company’s shareholders can receive up to another $150 million in milestone payments.
Agensys, which called itself UroGenesys until 2001, is developing a range of antibody drugs against cancer. Oddly, though, the company hasn’t had much to say about its drug… Continue Reading
Agensys pulls in $41M for cancer drugs
Santa Monica, Calif.-based Agensys, a biotech focused on new cancer drugs, raised $41 million in a fourth funding round. Duquesne Capital Management and JAFCO led the round, joined by Innovis Investments, Nextech Venture, Bear Stearns Health Innoventures, Alta Partners, HBM BioVentures, Lombard Odier Darier Hentsch & Cie, H&Q Life Sciences Investments, and Orbimed Associates.
Agensys develops monoclonal antibodies designed to target surface proteins or other molecules that specifically identify tumor cells. Its first drug candidate, AGS-PSCA,… Continue Reading