Oncurious to Buy VIB’s Immun-Oncology Portfolio

On Sep. 1, 2017, Oncurious, a Belgium-based biotechnology company focused on oncology, announced an agreement with VIB, a life sciences research institute also based in Belgium, to acquire exclusive licenses to a portfolio of five next-generation immuno-oncology assets. These assets originated from work done in the VIB-KULeuven and VIB-VUB laboratories.

The acquisition broadens Oncurious’ clinical development activities in orphan pediatric oncology indications. VIB Discovery Sciences will lead the pre-clinical development of these new projects.  Under the agreement, VIB will increase its stake in Oncurious, with ThromboGenics, a Belgium-based biotechnology company, remaining the majority shareholder. VIB will also receive a royalty on future sales of any of these assets. ThromboGenics invests an additional EUR 2.1 million (US$2.5 million) in Oncurious.

Oncurious is currently conducting a Phase I/IIa clinical trial to evaluate a drug candidate, TB-403, in treating medulloblastoma, in collaboration with BioInvent, a Swedish research-based pharmaceutical company. TB-403 is a humanized monoclonal antibody against placental growth factor (PLGF). PLGF is expressed in several types of cancer, including medulloblastoma.