Vir Biotechnology closes global collaboration agreement with Astellas Pharma

Vir Biotechnology (VIR) announced that its global collaboration and licensing agreement with Astellas (ALPMY) announced on February 23 has closed following expiration of the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976. The collaboration aims to accelerate the development of VIR-5500, a prostate-specific membrane antigen-targeted, PRO-XTEN dual-masked T-cell engager for metastatic prostate cancer. Upon closing, Vir Biotechnology receives a $240M upfront payment and a $75M equity investment at a price of $10.36 per share. The Company will also receive a near-term $20M milestone payment, will split U.S. profit/loss equally with Astellas, and is eligible to receive up to an additional $1.37B in development, regulatory and sales milestones, along with tiered, double-digit royalties on ex-U.S. net sales. Under the terms of Vir Biotechnology’s licensing agreement with Sanofi (SNY), a portion of certain collaboration proceeds will be shared with Sanofi.