Imugene has agreed to acquire a worldwide exclusive licence for a highly potent, chimeric oncolytic poxvirus known as CF33. The company proposes to progress CF33 into a Phase I safety study in 2020, including a cohort treated with CF33 in combination with a checkpoint inhibitor. This strategy is similar to that pursued by Viralytics, which was acquired by Merck for A$502m in 2018 after conducting studies of its Cavatak oncolytic virus in combination with Merck’s checkpoint inhibitor, Keytruda. The CF33 acquisition strengthens Imugene’s immunooncology pipeline, which is currently focused on B-cell vaccines. As the CF33 deal is a related party transaction and therefore contingent on shareholder approval, we maintain our published valuation of A$159m or 4.4 cents per share.
