NEW YORK – Solve Therapeutics on Thursday said it will make an upfront, undisclosed payment to acquire Cereius for its radiodiagnostic and radiotherapeutic development platform.
In the deal, Cereius shareholders are also eligible to receive development, regulatory, and commercial milestone payments as well as tiered royalties on net sales of successfully commercialized therapeutic and diagnostic products.
Durham, North Carolina-based Cereius' radiochemistry platform, developed based on intellectual property exclusively licensed from Duke University, uses proprietary radiolabeling chemistries to increase the uptake and retention of radionuclides at a target tumor and minimize accumulation in normal tissues. The platform complements Solve's efforts to develop therapies targeting tumor-specific antigens based on antibodies and nanobodies.
"Cereius technology has strong potential for expanding the utility of existing targeting antibodies and nanobodies," Solve CEO Dave Johnson said in a statement. "These next-generation radiolabeling chemistries and technology offer the potential to develop whole body, contemporaneous imaging for patient selection in conjunction with the development of SolveTx targeted treatments and to provide value enhancement for partnering oncology companies seeking life cycle product management opportunities."
San Diego-based Solve said it plans to continue refining Cereius' chemistry platform while developing targeted radionuclide therapeutics and companion radiodiagnostics to use with other cancer therapies.
Former Cereius CSO Jeffrey Schaal will join Solve as senior VP of theragnostics. The company will carry out R&D activities at a new facility in Durham.