Five Prime Therapeutics Agrees to Sell to Amgen for $1.9 Billion

San Francisco – March 16, 2021 – Cooley advised Five Prime Therapeutics, a publicly traded clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing immune modulators and precision therapies for solid tumor cancers, on its agreement to sell to Amgen in an all-cash transaction with an equity value of approximately $1.9 billion. Partners Jamie Leigh, Ian Nussbaum and Laura Berezin led the Cooley team advising Five Prime.

The acquisition, which is expected to close by the end of Q2, adds Five Prime’s innovative pipeline to Amgen’s leading oncology portfolio and supports Amgen’s international expansion strategy. Amgen plans to leverage its presence in Japan and other Asia-Pacific markets to maximize the potential of Five Prime’s lead asset, bemarituzumab, a Phase 3 ready, first-in-class program for gastric cancer. Additionally, as part of the transaction, Amgen will receive a royalty percentage on future net sales in Greater China from a pre-existing co-development and commercialization agreement between Five Prime and Zai Lab Shanghai.

“I’m so proud of the Five Prime team and the science we’ve pioneered,” Tom Civik, president and chief executive officer of Five Prime, said in a news release. “We see tremendous complementarity between the two companies. Amgen has global reach, world-class resources, and they share our deep passion for science and commitment to patients. I have full confidence that Amgen is the right company to work with us to bring our innovative cancer treatments to patients and to achieve our mission to rewrite cancer.”

By tackling the tough scientific questions and untapped pathways, San Francisco-headquartered Five Prime aims to offer new hope by developing novel, breakthrough therapies that have potential to alter the course of disease in cancers with few treatment options.

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