OSE Pharma and Effimune announce merger to focus on immunotherapy

Published: 26-Feb-2016

Companies to combine clinical pipelines and expertise in immune activation and regulation


OSE Pharma, an immuno-oncology company with a specific immunotherapy activating T lymphocytes, currently in a registration Phase III study, and Effimune, a biotech company specialising in immune regulation with clinical applications in autoimmunity, transplantation and immune-oncology, have announced the signing of a proposed merger agreement.

The boards of directors of both OSE Pharma and Effimune have approved the proposed terms of the merger, which will be submitted for approval to the shareholders of the two companies during Extraordinary General Meetings that are expected to take place at the end of the second quarter of 2016.

The merger will result in the shareholders of OSE Pharma owning approximately 71% of the capital of the merged entity and the shareholders of Effimune, 29%. The new company will benefit from a balanced portfolio that would open up major avenues to growth and have a financial visibility of about 2 years to advance its projects toward greater attractiveness.

The objective of the merger is to create a new international enterprise that offers innovative immunotherapies based on the activation or regulation of the immune system. This new generation of products is optimised to better target key receptors of the activation or regulation of immune response and allow a durable therapeutic effect.

Emile Loria, Chairman of the board of directors and the main shareholder of OSE Pharma, explained: ‘The merger with Effimune is a major step for both our companies, which have complementary expertise and multiple synergies. Now that our Phase III registration trial of Tedopi has been launched in Europe and in the USA in the field of immuno-oncology, the development of other clinical and preclinical programmes, co-financed by grants or industrial companies, opens up additional strong perspectives for growth. The proposed merger gives us a unique opportunity to create value for all of our shareholders in the rapidly growing field of immunotherapy.’

Maryvonne Hiance, Chairman of Effimune, said: ‘This merger capitalises on immuno-activation and immuno-regulation technologies. It is the perfect lever to deploy our programmes and optimise innovative drug candidates in the field of immuno-oncology, autoimmune diseases and transplantation. These next generation products are attractive for the pharmaceutical industry, and provide the flexibility to out-license either at an early stage or later in development, retaining more value for the group.’

The product portfolio will include two products under clinical development: Tedopi, a specific T immunotherapy that activates cytotoxic T lymphocytes and targets patients with Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) and who are HLA-A2 positive; and FR104, which is currently in a Phase I clinical trial and targets indications for autoimmune diseases and transplantation. The product portfolio will also include products in preclinical development (Effi-7 and Effi-dem).

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