Pentixapharm Acquires Glycotope for its target discovery business

In a bid to amp up its radiopharmaceuticals pipeline, Pentixapharm has chosen to acquire Glycotope’s target discovery business, which focuses on preclinical antibodies directed against several oncology markers.

The acquisition also grants Pentixapharm access to Glycotope’s tumor-target database, patents, licenses, and other tangible assets. Additionally, Glycotope’s laboratories and cell banks will be available to Pentixapharm.

The deal is designed to provide Glycotope with the necessary equipment to exploit its discovery platform.

Although no financial details of the deal were revealed, Pentixapharm mentioned that it will gain an integrated team of 40 seasoned administrators, R&D specialists, and executives.

PentixaTher, a CXCR4 cytokine receptor and a gallium-68 PET imaging agent, currently make up Pentixapharm’s therapeutic pipeline. While the former is being tested in patients with lymphoma affecting the central nervous system in a phase 1/2 trial, the latter is aimed at treating primary aldosteronism, a hypertension-related condition, and non-Hodgkin B-cell lymphoma.

Pentixapharm CEO Hakim Bouterfa stated, “The acquisition will broaden Pentixapharm’s intellectual property portfolio beyond the one built around the CXCR4 receptor. Glycotope’s pipeline comprises several candidates that can be used immediately for proof-of-concept studies as next-generation radiopharmaceuticals. We look forward to maximizing the synergy of Pentixapharm’s know-how and Glycotope’s target discovery for the benefit of patients in both diagnostics and therapeutic applications.”

Despite currently being owned by Eckert & Ziegler (EZAG), a specialist in isotope-related components used for nuclear medicine and radiation therapy, Pentixapharm plans to break away from its parent company in the future to be listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

In addition to building its clinical pipeline, the agreement allows Pentixapharm to go beyond its CXCR4-ligand-based programs by significantly strengthening its administrative and managerial capacities, Andreas Eckert, chairman of the supervisory board of both Pentixapharm and EZAG, stated in the same press release.

Through the laboratories and offices included in the deal, it is now possible for Pentixapharm to consolidate all its Berlin-based activities under one roof, Eckert further explained.

With the deal, the executive structure will change as current Chief Medical Officer Dirk Pleimes takes on the role of CEO, while current CEO Bouterfa moves to the biotech’s supervisory board. Patrik Kehler, who currently serves as the chief scientific officer at Glycotope, will retain his role at Pentixapharm.

In the past, Kehler and his team have been working on tumor-associated carbohydrate structures to close the treatment gap for solid tumors.

Beyond Pentixapharm, other firms have recognized the potential within the German biotech. These include LegoChem Biosciences, Daiichi Sankyo, and Evotec, all of whom have signed up for collaborations with the company.

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