Bristol-Myers Squibb acquires Sweden’s Cormorant Pharma

US pharma major Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) has acquired all of the outstanding capital stock of Cormorant Pharmaceuticals, a private, Sweden-based company focused on the development of therapies for cancer and rare diseases, in a deal worth up to $520 million.

The acquisition gives Bristol-Myers Squibb full rights to Cormorant’s HuMax-interleukin (IL)8 antibody program and the lead candidate HuMax-IL8, a Phase I/II monoclonal antibody targeted against IL-8 that represents a potentially complementary immuno-oncology mechanism of action to T-cell directed antibodies and co-stimulatory molecules.

HuMax-IL8 will add to Bristol-Myers Squibb's portfolio of immunotherapy cancer treatments including Yervoy (ipilimumab), approved in 2011 to treat advanced skin cancer, and Opdivo (nivolumab), cleared in 2014 for lung and skin cancer, which together generated global sales $2.1 billion in 2015.