Artios and Merck in global strategic collaboration

IP Group plc - Portfolio company Artios and Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany announce a global strategic collaboration on novel DNA Damage Response targets in oncology

·      Artios to receive US$30m in upfront and near-term payments and up to US$860m total milestones per target 

IP Group plc (LSE: IPO) ("IP Group" or "the Group"), the developer of intellectual property-based businesses, is delighted to note that portfolio company Artios Pharma Ltd ("Artios"), a leading DNA Damage Response (DDR) company focused on developing a broad pipeline of precision medicines for the treatment of cancer, and Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany ("Merck"), a leading science and technology company, have announced a global three-year strategic research collaboration to discover and develop multiple precision oncology drugs.

As part of the agreement, Artios will receive a payment of US$30m in the form of up-front and near-term payments. If Merck chooses to exercise the option, subject to double digit option fees, Artios will be eligible to receive up to US$860m per target, in addition to up to double digit royalty payments on net sales of each product commercialised by Merck. Subject to certain conditions, Artios has opt-in rights for joint development and commercialization with Merck for the programmes.

IP Group has an 11.7% undiluted beneficial holding in Artios that was valued at £11.0m as at 30 June 2020. The directors anticipate that the Group's assessment of the value of its holding in Artios may increase by £5m-£15m as a result of the collaboration and will finalise this during the Group's 2020 Annual Results valuation process.

Under the terms of the agreement, the companies will leverage Artios's proprietary nuclease targeting discovery platform to jointly identify multiple synthetic lethal targets for precision oncology drug candidates. During this joint research collaboration, Merck will contribute its significant expertise and resources in the field of DDR and will have options to licence up to eight nuclease targets with exclusive worldwide rights to develop and commercialize select therapeutics discovered under the collaboration. The collaboration does not include Artios' lead programmes, Polθ and ATR inhibitors, for which Artios will retain all rights.

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Notes for editors

About IP Group

IP Group is a leading intellectual property commercialisation company which focuses on evolving great ideas, mainly from its partner universities, into world-changing businesses. The Group has pioneered a unique approach to developing these ideas and the resulting businesses by providing access to business building expertise, capital (through its 100%-owned FCA-authorised subsidiaries IP Capital and Parkwalk Advisors), networks, recruitment and business support. IP Group has a strong track record of success and its portfolio comprises holdings in early-stage to mature businesses across life sciences and technology. IP Group is listed on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange under the code IPO.

Group holdings in portfolio companies reflect the undiluted beneficial equity interest excluding debt, unless otherwise explicitly stated.

For more information, please visit our website at www.ipgroupplc.com.

About Artios Pharma Ltd.

Artios is a leading DNA Damage Response (DDR) company focused on developing first-in-class treatments for cancer.  The Company, founded by SV Health Investors in 2016, is led by an experienced scientific and leadership team with proven expertise in DDR drug discovery. It has a unique partnership with Cancer Research UK (CRUK), and collaborations with leading DNA repair researchers worldwide, such as The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR), London, the Netherlands Cancer Institute (NKI) and the National Centre for Biomolecular Research at Masaryk University in the Czech Republic, with their expertise in DNA repair nucleases. Artios is building a pipeline of next-generation DDR programmes to target hard to treat cancers. It is backed by blue chip investors including: AbbVie Ventures, Andera Partners (formerly EdRIP), Arix Bioscience plc, IP Group plc, LSP, M Ventures, Novartis Venture Fund (NVF), Pfizer Ventures and SV Health Investors. Artios is based at the Babraham Research Campus in Cambridge, UK, with offices in New York City, USA. www.artiospharma.com

ENDS