San Diego-based Ligand Pharmaceuticals has acquired OMT Inc., a privately held Palo Alto biotechnology company that genetically engineers animals to develop monoclonal antibody therapeutics.
The publicly traded Ligand (Nasdaq: LGND) is paying $178 million – $92.6 million in cash, and $85.4 million in Ligand common stock. The companies announced the acquisition after the market closed; stock settled on Dec. 17 at $111.85 per share.
which is a biopharma company that plays the numbers game. It has built up a broad portfolio of drugs in development – some 125 partnerships in play at present. With the acquisition, that will increase to more than 140 drug programs in development – and partnerships with 83 companies.
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OMT has a number of partnerships in place – including with Amgen, Celgene, Janssen, Merck and Pfizer – that should fit into Ligand’s business model. Notably, with this acquisition Ligand will enter the burgeoning market of antibody therapeutics.
Ligand projects that up to three antibodies from the OMT pipeline will be in Phase 1 clinical trials by the end of 2017, and more than 15 could be in Phase 1 or further by 2020.
One of Ligand’s more notable partners is Retrophin, a pharmaceutical company cast into the spotlight thanks to rogue CEO Martin Shkreli’s fraudulent antics.
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