$300 million deal highlights the therapeutic and investment appeal of novel biologic cancer treatments.

Seeking to strengthen its oncology pipeline, Bristol-Myers Squibb announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire all outstanding stock of IFM Therapeutics, a venture funded biotech that owns two novel therapies designed to stimulate the innate immune system’s ability to fight cancer, auto-immune disorders and inflammatory disease. According to the agreement, Bristol-Myers Squibb will pay IFM $300 million at closing and payments as high as $1.01 billion contingent on sales and other financial milestones for IFM’s interferon gene stimulator STING and NLRP3, the company’s premier immuno-oncology agonist programs.

Bristol-Myers Squibb said the acquisition of IFM’s two programs is an example of how the company intends to leverage external innovation to expand its portfolio, especially for treating cancers. IFM’s STING agonist program contains a lead asset that Bristol-Myers Squibb said will help bring forward the company’s own initiatives against this target. The NLRP3 agonist program is even more promising, as Bristol-Myers Squibb noted, it has the potential to become a first-in-class pipeline candidate.

Thomas Lynch, Jr., Executive Vice President, Chief Scientific Officer for Bristol-Myers Squibb, explained that leveraging a patient’s own innate immunity pathways represents a new approach to immuno-oncology that, by initiating and augmenting immune response, bolster’s the body’s natural systems and help it identify and kill tumors. Noting the strategic nature of the acquisition and its value in expanding the company’s portfolio, Lynch said, “We look forward to advancing the development of these important programs initiated by Gary Glick, his leadership team and leading academic and industry experts across immunology and oncology.”

IFM Co-Founder and CEO Gary Glick remarked that the early success of the STING and NLRP3 programs have earned them the right to further development: “A comprehensive body of preclinical data support the continued research of IFM’s NLRP3 and STING agonists with a goal of uncovering their potential benefit to patients, particularly those not served by currently available cancer immunotherapeutics,” said Glick. “Based on its deep expertise and leadership positions in immunology, oncology, and immuno-oncology, Bristol-Myers Squibb is uniquely positioned to accelerate these programs and maximize their potential.”