Billionaire physician-entrepreneur Patrick Soon-Shiong seems to be orchestrating an entire M&A ecosystem within his own entities.
Two more Nant companies reporting mega-funding: NantOmics has raised $150 million and NantCell has raised $100 million, both from a single investor, according to two SEC filings (here and here). These startups fall under the umbrella company NantWorks that was launched by Soon-Shiong in Los Angeles in 2011.
Notably, the precision medicine-centered NantOmics just yesterday finished acquiring OncoPlex Diagnostics, an accredited proteomics diagnostic laboratory. NantOmics, the molecular diagnostics arm of NantWorks, took over OncoPlex – a Maryland company that uses mass spectrometry to test tumor cell proteins. OncoPlex has been funded by Soon-Shiong’s subsidiaries since 2008, making this a rather simple acquisition.
So it looks as though Soon-Shiong provided a heap of financing to NantOmics, which in turn acquired a Soon-Shiong financed diagnostic company. Quite the internal M&A maneuver.
NantCell is an immuno-oncology startup that was launched this past January, taking a precision medicine approach to develop ganitumab, a former Amgen asset that was halted in late stage trials for pancreatic cancer because of a lack of efficacy. Soon-Shiong, an old pro at cancer drugs, seems to be building a new way to harness the drug.
Of interest, given the constant stream of Nant-something fundings: It looks as though NantHealth – a bioinformatics-based NantWorks offshoot – is readying itself for IPO. With these mounting financings, it’ll be interesting to see which companies wind up going public, and in what order.
NantWorks has taken the shape of a venture capital firm with its various offshoots – so it’s a wait and watch game to see which exits will be fruitful and which will pan out less successfully. Will the NantWorks subsidiaries work together in harmony to advance healthcare? We shall see.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
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