An adenoviral gene delivery technology developed by Genvec Inc. has drawn active synthetic biology player Intrexon Corp. to acquire the company in a stock exchange Intrexon valued at about $7 per share, or about $19.4 million. The deal gives Genvec's Adenoverse technology a new role in Intrexon's drug product manufacturing platform, while alleviating pressures on Genvec to find new partners beyond Merial Inc. and Novartis AG, which just saw a clinical hold on an early trial of its Genvec-licensed drug CGF166 lifted in July 2016.
Under terms of the agreement, Genvec stockholders would receive 0.297 of a share of Intrexon common stock in exchange for each share of Genvec common stock. They would also receive half of any milestone or royalty payments received from Novartis within 36 months of the transaction's close. Following the FDA's lifting of the clinical hold, enrollment in the phase I/II trial of CGF166 resumed. However, because it is unclear at what pace future development, regulatory and sales-based milestones might be reached, it's uncertain how much of the remaining $201 million in payments would flow to Genvec shareholders in that time frame.
Intrexon said that combining its own gene control systems with those developed by Genvec could accelerate its ability to develop gene therapies that regulate in vivo expression of multiple therapeutic effectors. Furthermore, it said, "Genvec's selection of vector origins and serotypes as well as know-how in specifying cellular and tissue targets is expected to expedite the design and production of vectors that complement Intrexon's multigene programming and focus on safety with limited off-target effect."
The combination of technologies enabled by the merger would also have the potential to support the creation of a scalable manufacturing platform utilizing helper-dependent adenovirus with a significantly higher payload capacity, Intrexon said.
"The addition of a helper-dependent adenoviral system with a substantial payload capacity dramatically expands the types of in vivo therapeutic programs we can pursue," said Intrexon's chief science officer, Thomas Reed. The company declined to make Reed or another representative available to provide further details about the transaction on Tuesday.
Intrexon's business is built primarily around the formation of exclusive channel collaborations. It has also founded the Harvest Intrexon Enterprise Fund, a $245 million investment vehicle that closed in January 2016 with the sole aim of funding companies that use Intrexon's inventions, discoveries and technologies. Through that fund, in April 2016 it backed channel collaborations with Relieve Genetics Inc., which intends to explore a non-opioid gene therapy approach to treat neuropathic pain, and Exotech Bio Inc., which plans to employ an exosome-based platform to deliver therapeutic RNA to treat select cancer indications. Other partnerships have linked the company's fortunes with Ziopharm Oncology Inc. and Fibrocell Science Inc., among others. (See BioWorld Today, April 14, 2016.)
By Tuesday's market close, Genvec shares (NASDAQ:GNVC) had risen 44.7 percent to $6.57, while Intrexon shares (NYSE:XON) lost 43 cents, closing at $21.65.