Tokyo (SCCIJ) – Taiho Pharmaceutical from Tokyo has bought the cancer therapy specialist Araris Biotech for up to 1.14 billion US dollars. With this valuation, the Swiss biotech start-up based in the canton of Zurich reaches unicorn status just six years after incorporation.
Two-step acquisition
The deal includes an initial payment of 400 million US dollars and milestone payments of 740 US million. Contract structures like this are typical for acquiring companies in the biotech sector. In total, Taiho will pay 1.14 billion US dollars, thus giving Araris the status of a unicorn, a start-up that has achieved a valuation of over 1 billion US dollars.
The Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), Switzerland’s largest research center for natural and engineering sciences, and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETHZ) spun off Araris Biotech in 2019. Araris with its headquarters in Au about 25 kilometers south of Zurich will continue its activities in Switzerland as a subsidiary of Taiho, focusing on developing potent antibody-drug conjugates for cancer therapy.
More efficient chemotherapy
The acquisition confirms the innovative potential of Araris’ therapeutic approach to improving the efficacy and tolerability of cancer therapies. It develops novel antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) for a better targeting of tumors. They selectively deliver highly toxic drugs to cancer cells by attaching them to antibodies that bind specifically to cancer cells through linkers.
Philipp Spycher founded and built the company on research at PSI’s Center for Radiopharmaceutical Sciences. Spycher developed a method that allows cytotoxic agents to be bound to antibodies more firmly than before. Araris’ technique for attaching the antibody to the drug is more efficient and easier to manufacture than existing methods.
A platform for therapy candidates
The secret of this success is the novel, proprietary ADC linker platform AraLinQ. It has generated highly uniform, stable, and potent ADC therapeutic candidates with a wider range of safety and increased anti-tumor effects compared to conventional ADCs in preclinical studies.
Furthermore, Araris is advancing three products for treating hematological and solid tumors, which have been developed through its unique AraLinQ technology. These products, which are currently in the preclinical stage, are expected to enter clinical trials in 2025 and 2026.
Taiho Pharmaceutical also focuses on cancer treatment. In addition to antimetabolites, the Japanese company has established and created novel drugs through its proprietary small molecule drug discovery platform, Cysteinomix. By acquiring Araris’ innovative ADC drug discovery technology platform along with Cysteinomix, Taiho wants to expand its ongoing development portfolio in the field of oncology further.
Text: Stefanie Wiedner and Christine Huber/PSI // Taiho (Editing by SCCIJ)
