Bristol-Myers To Buy IFM Therapeutics For $300 Million, And Potential Contingent Payments

Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. announced Thursday a deal to buy privately-held biotechnology company IFM Therapeutics for $300 million, and contingent payments of up to $1.01 billion. The acquisition gives Bristol-Myers rights to preclinical programs, STING (stimulator of interferon genes) and NLRP3 agonist, which are focused on enhancing the innate immune response for treating cancer. IFM will also be entitled to additional payments of up to $1.01 billion for each of the first products from the two programs if certain development, regulatory and sales milestones are achieved. The deal is expected to close during the third quarter of 2017. "The addition of STING and NLRP3 agonist programs broadens our ability to investigate additional pathways across the immune system and complements our immuno-oncology portfolio," said Bristol-Myers's Chief Scientific Officer Thomas Lynch. Bristol-Myers's stock, which was inactive in post-market trade, has gained lost 5.0% year to date through Thursday, while the SPDR Health Care Select Sector ETF has run up 15.6% and the S&P 500 has climbed 10.4%.