The Telix Pharmaceuticals Ltd (ASX: TLX) share price has returned from its trading halt and is storming higher again on Monday.
In early trade the biopharmaceutical company's shares are up 8% to a record high of $3.51.
Why is the Telix share price pushing higher?
This morning Telix announced that it has entered into an agreement with Scintec Diagnostics to acquire TheraPharm.
TheraPharm is a Swiss-German biotechnology company developing innovative diagnostic and therapeutic solutions in the field of hematology.
According to the release, the acquisition provides Telix with access to a portfolio of patents, technologies, production systems, clinical data, and know-how in relation to the use of Molecularly Targeted Radiation (MTR) in hematology and immunology.
Management notes that TheraPharm is developing antibody MTR technology against CD66, a cell surface target highly expressed by neutrophils and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes.
It feels this technology has potentially very broad applications in the diagnosis and treatment of hematologic diseases (such as blood cancers), infection management, and a variety of lymphoproliferative diseases.
One area of particular interest to Telix is the demonstrated use of the technology to safely and effectively condition patients prior to bone marrow stem cell transplant.
What will this cost Telix?
Telix has agreed an upfront payment of 10.2 million euros (~A$16.5 million). This comprises 10 million euros in Telix shares and 0.2 million euros upon completion.
There are also earn-out components of up to 10 million euros subject to certain milestones and also 5% royalties on sales for three years.
Telix's CEO, Dr. Christian Behrenbruch, commented, "Telix is committed to extending and improving the lives of patients with serious diseases. As such, the acquisition of TheraPharm and its MTR assets are uniquely aligned to Telix's mission and technical strengths in antibody engineering and radiochemistry."
"TheraPharm's technology has a significant role to play in BMC and stem cell transplantation across a broad range of blood cancers and rare diseases. The current approach to BMC employs highly toxic drugs that have a poor morbidity and mortality profile, and for which many patients are ineligible. MTR offers an excellent safety profile that may greatly expand the number of patients able to undergo life prolonging stem cell transplantation while greatly reducing the hospitalisation burden and cost associated with such procedures," he added.
