AC Immune acquires Parkinson’s disease vaccine candidate and equity investment

Parkinson's disease is causally linked to pathological aggregation and deposition of a-syn, a drug target that has been validated in clinical studies using monoclonal antibodies. Austrian clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company Affiris developed a portfolio of therapeutics targeting alpha-synuclein (a-syn). Affiris PD01 is a vaccine designed to generate a target-specific antibody response against pathological oligomeric a-syn. Affiris PD01 has been clinically validated as an active vaccine candidate for the treatment of Parkinson's disease.

AC Immune SA (NASDAQ: ACIU), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company pioneering precision medicine for neurodegenerative diseases has acquired Affiris PD01. This anti-a-syn vaccine complements AC Immune's existing portfolio of clinical and preclinical candidates addressing a-syn, which includes an anti-a-syn antibody, a small molecule aggregation inhibitor, and a first-in-class diagnostic imaging agent, which together may enable a precision medicine approach to treating Parkinson's disease and other alpha-synucleinopathies. With this acquisition, AC Immune becomes a leader in the development of therapeutics and diagnostics for Parkinson's disease.

Under the terms of the agreement, AC Immune is acquiring all of Affiris' assets and underlying intellectual property related to active vaccine candidates targeting a-syn and USD 5 million in cash for 7.1 million shares based on a price of USD 8.26 per common share. This share price represents a 10.7% premium compared to the closing price of AC Immune shares as of July 23, 2021.

Equity investment for AC Immune
Concurrent with the asset acquisition, AC Immune announced a private placement transaction with a select group of investors led by Athos Service GmbH with additional participation from First Capital Partner GmbH. Gross proceeds from the private placement will be USD 25 million, based on the same financial terms as for the acquisition of the therapeutic anti-a-syn portfolio.

Another lead BioNTech and Affiris investor, MIG Fonds, is also becoming a new AC Immune shareholder via its prior ownership of the anti-a-syn assets acquired. In total, AC Immune is issuing 10.1 million shares in conjunction with the asset acquisition and related financing, in exchange for the aforementioned anti-a-syn assets valued at USD 53.7 million and USD30 million in cash.

With the support of their new premier investors, who are highly experienced in active vaccination, AC Immune will leverage its own extensive expertise in vaccine development and neurodegenerative diseases to immediately launch clinical development of ACI-7104, the optimized formulation of PD01, into an adaptive, biomarker-based Phase 2 study. This trial will evaluate an initial dose-response of the optimized formulation focusing on immunogenicity against a-syn and pathological a-syn species. Additionally, progression of motor and non-motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease will be monitored, together with digital, imaging and fluid biomarkers.

(Press release)