Biopharma company Celgene is set to acquire Impact Biomedicines

Celgene has recently announced that it is set to acquire Impact Biomedicines and its drug fedratinib, which will be added to Celgene’s therapies for myelofibrosis (a type of bone marrow cancer) and polycythemia vera. Further payment opportunities will arise upon the drug’s sales performance worldwide.

Celgene will pay approximately $1.1 billion upfront and up to $1.25 billion in contingent payments based on regulatory approval milestones for myelofibrosis. The acquisition is one of the largest in the company’s history.

"Myelofibrosis is a disease with high unmet medical need as the number of patients who are ineligible for or become resistant to existing therapy continues to increase," commented Nadim Ahmed, President, Haematology and Oncology for Celgene.

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"We believe fedratinib is uniquely positioned as a potential treatment for myelofibrosis and it provides strategic options for us to build leadership in this disease with luspatercept and other pipeline assets."

Impact’s Chief Executive, John Hood, is one of the co-inventors of fedratinib when working at TargeGen Inc. Now involved in the sale of fedratinib for the second time, Hood has observed its potential for treating patients with myelofibrosis.

“We launched Impact Biomedicines and based on our thorough review of the data, fedratinib presents a compelling risk benefit profile in both treatment-naïve patients and patients who are resistant or intolerant to other JAK2 therapies,” he said.

"We believe Celgene is the ideal organisation to follow through on our mission of maximizing fedratinib's potential for patients with myelofibrosis."