Celgene Acquires Impact Biomedicines, Adding Myeloproliferative Neoplasm Drug Fedratinib to Its Pipeline

Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ:CELG) and Impact Biomedicines today announced the signing of a definitive agreement in which Celgene will acquire Impact Biomedicines, which is developing fedratinib for myelofibrosis and polycythemia vera.  Under the terms of the agreement, Celgene will pay approximately $1.1 billion upfront and up to $1.25 billion in contingent payments based on regulatory approval milestones for myelofibrosis.  Additional future payments for regulatory approvals in additional indications and sales-based milestones are also possible.

Fedratinib, a highly selective JAK2 kinase inhibitor, was evaluated in 877 patients across 18 clinical trials.  In a randomized, placebo-controlled, phase III pivotal trial (JAKARTA-1) for patients with treatment-naïve myelofibrosis, fedratinib demonstrated statistically significant improvements in the primary and secondary endpoints of splenic response and total symptom score, respectively.  In an exploratory subgroup analysis, these improvements were observed regardless of a patient’s baseline platelet count.