Auven sells Spirogen in $240m trade sale

As part of the transaction terms, MedImmune paid $200m in cash, with a deferred consideration of up to $240m.

Pharmaceutical-focused private equity house Auven (then Celtic Therapeutics) initially backed Spirogen with $15m in 2009, acquiring a majority stake in the firm.

Company
Spirogen develops proprietary pyrrolobenzodiazepine (PBD) technology, which attaches cytotoxic agents (or "warheads") to specific cancer-targeting antibodies using biodegradable "linkers". This optimises the direct delivery of the drug to the tumour cells, providing a greater degree of tumour destruction while minimising the toxicity to the patient.

Spirogen's lead oncology drug candidate is SG2000, which recently completed phase-1 studies in the US.

The firm was founded in 2001 as a spinout of the University College of London and Cancer Research UK. The London-based company employs 18 staff.

People
Chris Martin is Spirogen's CEO. Michael Forer is CEO of ADC Therapeutics and a managing director of Auven. Bahija Jallal is the executive vice president of MedImmune and will join ADC's board.

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