Summit Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: SMMT) (“Summit,” “we,” or the
“Company”) today announced that we have completed the closing of
our previously announced definitive agreement with Akeso Inc. (HKEX
Code: 9926.HK, “Akeso”) to in-license its breakthrough bispecific
antibody, ivonescimab. Ivonescimab, known as AK112 in China and
Australia, and as SMT112 in the United States, Canada, Europe, and
Japan, is a novel, potential first-in-class bispecific antibody
combining the effects of immunotherapy via a blockade of PD-1 with
the anti-angiogenesis effects associated with blocking VEGF into a
single molecule.
Summit is initiating development activities for SMT112 and will
do so first in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) indications.
The definitive partnership calls for Summit to receive the
rights to develop and commercialize ivonescimab (SMT112) in the
United States, Canada, Europe, and Japan. Akeso will retain
development and commercialization rights for the rest of the world,
including China.
In exchange for these rights, Summit committed to an upfront
payment of $500 million to be paid in two installments. The first
installment worth $300 million has been paid in conjunction with
the closing of the transaction. Of the $300 million paid to Akeso
by Summit, Akeso opted, in accordance with the definitive
agreement, to convert approximately $25.1 million of the payment
into 10 million shares of Summit common stock; the remaining $274.9
million was paid by Summit to Akeso in cash. The second installment
of $200 million will become due on March 5, 2023 and will be paid
by Summit in cash.
Going forward, Akeso will be eligible to receive regulatory and
commercial milestones of up to an additional $4.5 billion. In
addition, Akeso will receive low double-digit royalties on net
sales in the Summit territories.
In conjunction with the closing of the deal, Dr. Michelle Xia,
Co-Founder, Chairwoman, and CEO of Akeso, has been appointed to the
board of directors of Summit.
Update on $500 Million Rights Offering
We continue to plan for our previously announced rights
offering, which will be available to all holders of record of the
Company’s common stock, par value $0.01 (the “Common Stock”) as of
the close of the market on the record date. The record date will be
no earlier than February 2, 2023 (the “Record Date”).
The Company intends to distribute to all holders of Common Stock
as of the Record Date non-transferable subscription rights to
purchase shares of Common Stock at a price per share equal to the
lesser of (i) $1.05, or (ii) the volume weighted-average price of
the Common Stock for the five consecutive trading days through and
including the expiration date of the offering. Assuming that the
rights offering is fully subscribed, the Company will receive gross
proceeds of up to $500 million, less expenses related to the rights
offering.
We will provide additional information as we approach the final
record date.
Summit has filed a registration statement (including a
prospectus) on Form S-3 with the Securities and Exchange Commission
(the “SEC”) on December 21, 2022, which has not yet become
effective. The registration statement covers, among other things,
the rights offering to which this communication relates. Such
securities may not be sold nor may offers to buy be accepted prior
to the time the registration statement becomes effective. Before
you invest, you should read the final prospectus in that
registration statement, together with any prospectus supplement,
that we will file prior to commencing any rights offering, and the
documents incorporated by reference in the prospectus (or any
prospectus supplement), as well as the other documents Summit has
filed with the SEC for more complete information about Summit and
the rights offering. You may get these documents for free by
visiting EDGAR on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.
This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the
solicitation of an offer to buy these securities, nor will there be
any sale of these securities in any state or other jurisdiction in
which such offer, solicitation, or sale would be unlawful prior to
registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such
state or jurisdiction. The rights offering will be made pursuant to
an effective registration statement on Form S-3 containing the
detailed terms of the rights offering to be filed with the SEC. Any
offer will be made only by means of a prospectus forming part of
the registration statement.
Summit Therapeutics’ Mission Statement
To build a viable, long-lasting health care organization that
assumes full responsibility for designing, developing, trial
execution and enrollment, regulatory submission and approval, and
successful commercialization of patient, physician, caregiver, and
societal-friendly medicinal therapy intended to: improve quality of
life, increase potential duration of life, and resolve serious
medical healthcare needs. To identify and control promising product
candidates based on exceptional scientific development and
administrational expertise, develop our products in a rapid,
cost-efficient manner, and to engage commercialization and/or
development partners when appropriate.
We accomplish this by building a team of world class
professional scientists and business administrators that apply
their experience and knowledge to this mission. Team Summit exists
to pose, strategize, and execute a path forward in medicinal
therapeutic health care that places Summit in a well-deserved, top
market share, leadership position. Team Summit assumes full
responsibility for stimulating continuous expansion of knowledge,
ability, capability, and well-being for all involved stakeholders
and highly-valued shareholders.
About Summit Therapeutics
Summit was founded in 2003 and our shares are listed on the
Nasdaq Global Market (symbol ‘SMMT’). We are headquartered in Menlo
Park, California, and we have additional offices in Oxford, UK and
Cambridge, UK. For more information, please visit
https://www.smmttx.com and follow us on Twitter @summitplc.
About Akeso Inc.
Akeso (HKEX: 09926) is a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical
company committed to the discovery, development, manufacturing and
commercialization of innovative medicines with high unmet medical
needs worldwide. Founded in 2012, the company has established a
comprehensive in-house drug development platform (ACE Platform) and
know-how, including R&D, clinical development, CMC (Chemistry,
Manufacturing, and Controls), and commercialization capabilities.
With fully integrated multi-functional platform, Akeso is
internally working on a robust pipeline of over 30 innovative
assets in the fields of cancer, autoimmune disease, inflammation,
metabolic disease, and other major therapeutic areas. 17 assets
have entered into clinical stage. Leveraging its in-house developed
bispecific platform technology (“Tetrabody technology”), Akeso has
advanced four potential first-in-class bispecific antibody drugs
into market or clinical development, including cadonilimab (PD-1 /
CTLA-4), ivonescimab (PD-1 / VEGF), PD-1 / LAG-3, and TIGIT /
TGF-Beta bispecific antibodies. In June 2022, cadonilimab was
approved by the NMPA and became the first commercialized PD-1 based
bispecific drug globally. Another Akeso internally discovered and
developed oncology product, penpulimab (a PD-1 antibody), was
granted marketing approval in China in August 2021. Akeso is listed
on the Main Board of the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited.
Summit Forward-looking Statements
Any statements in this press release about the Company’s future
expectations, plans and prospects, including but not limited to,
statements about the clinical and preclinical development of the
Company’s product candidates, entry into and actions related to the
Company’s partnership with Akeso Inc., the therapeutic potential of
the Company’s product candidates, the potential commercialization
of the Company’s product candidates, the timing of initiation,
completion and availability of data from clinical trials, the
potential submission of applications for marketing approvals, the
impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Company’s operations and
clinical trials, potential acquisitions and other statements
containing the words "anticipate," "believe," "continue," "could,"
"estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "plan," "potential,"
"predict," "project," "should," "target," "would," and similar
expressions, constitute forward-looking statements within the
meaning of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such
forward-looking statements as a result of various important
factors, including the results of our evaluation of the underlying
data in connection with the development and commercialization
activities for SMT112, the outcome of discussions with regulatory
authorities, including the Food and Drug Administration, the
uncertainties inherent in the initiation of future clinical trials,
availability and timing of data from ongoing and future clinical
trials, the results of such trials, and their success, and global
public health crises, including the coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak,
that may affect timing and status of our clinical trials and
operations, whether preliminary results from a clinical trial will
be predictive of the final results of that trial or whether results
of early clinical trials or preclinical studies will be indicative
of the results of later clinical trials, whether business
development opportunities to expand the Company’s pipeline of drug
candidates, including without limitation, through potential
acquisitions of, and/or collaborations with, other entities occur,
expectations for regulatory approvals, laws and regulations
affecting government contracts and funding awards, availability of
funding sufficient for the Company’s foreseeable and unforeseeable
operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements and other
factors discussed in the "Risk Factors" section of filings that the
Company makes with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Any
change to our ongoing trials could cause delays, affect our future
expenses, and add uncertainty to our commercialization efforts, as
well as to affect the likelihood of the successful completion of
clinical development of SMT112. Accordingly, readers should not
place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information.
In addition, any forward-looking statements included in this press
release represent the Company’s views only as of the date of this
release and should not be relied upon as representing the Company’s
views as of any subsequent date. The Company specifically disclaims
any obligation to update any forward-looking statements included in
this press release.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230120005080/en/
Contact Summit Investor Relations Dave Gancarz Head of
Stakeholder Relations & Corporate Strategy
david.gancarz@smmttx.com
General Inquiries: investors@smmttx.com
Contact Akeso Investor Relations Michael Xi Chief
Financial Officer michael.xi@akesobio.com
General Inquiries: ir@akesobio.com
Summit Therapeutics (NASDAQ:SMMT)
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