Novartis acquires IFM Due and its cGAS-STING program .
IFM Therapeutics, a privately held biopharmaceutical company focused on developing therapies that modulate novel targets in the innate immune system, announced that Novartis has exercised its option to acquire all of the outstanding capital stock of IFM Due, a subsidiary company of IFM
Launched in February 2019, with a focus on developing small molecules that inhibit the cGAS-STING pathway, the company entered into an option and collaboration agreement with Novartis in September, 2019 whereby Novartis made fixed payments sufficient to fully finance IFM Due's research and development costs for the cGAS-STING program in exchange for the option to acquire the IFM Due subsidiary . Under the terms of the option exercise, IFM received $90 million in upfront payment and will be eligible for up to $745 million in milestone payments, adding up to $835 million in total consideration. The acquisition provides Novartis with full rights to IFM Due's portfolio of STING antagonists, which have the potential to treat an array of serious inflammation-driven diseases characterized by excessive interferon and other pro-inflammatory cytokine signaling.
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