Bristol-Myers Squibb Announces Agreement to Acquire HER2-Targeted Cancer Treatment

Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) announced on Oct. 28, 2014 that BMS and F-star Alpha had entered into an agreement that gives Squibb the exclusive rights to FS102, F-star’s novel Phase I human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-targeted therapy. The HER2-targeted therapy is in development for the treatment of breast and gastric cancers in HER2-positive patients who did not respond, or became resistant, to other therapies.

HER2 plays a significant role in the growth of tumors and poor clinical outcomes for patients with breast cancer and other solid tumors. FS102 is a HER2-targeted Fcab that may eliminate cancer cells. FS102 binds to a unique site on HER2 and then induces programmed cell death in HER2-positive tumor cells.

“In addition to the important improvement of cancer therapy FS102 may provide to patients, this program also provides validation of the Modular Antibody Technology platform as a powerful engine to discover and rapidly develop novel targeted biologics,” said John Haurum, MD, DPhil, and CEO at F-star Biotechnology in a press release.

Under the agreement, BMS will make payments to F-star Alpha with an aggregate consideration up to $475 million, which includes $50 million payments, option exercise fee, and milestone payments at the start of Phase III clinical trials and regulatory approvals.

Source: Bristol-Myers Squibb