AstraZeneca to buy US vaccine maker Icosavax for up to $1.1bn

(Sharecast News) - AstraZeneca said on Tuesday that it has agreed to buy Icosavax - a US-based clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company - for up to $1.1bn. AstraZeneca said the deal will build on its expertise in respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), strengthening its vaccines & immune therapies late-stage pipeline with Icosavax's lead investigational vaccine candidate, IVX-A12.

AstraZeneca said IVX-A12 is a potential first-in- class, Phase III-ready, combination protein virus-like particle (VLP) vaccine which targets both RSV and human metapneumovirus (hMPV). These are the two leading causes of severe respiratory infection and hospitalisation in adults 60 years and older and those with chronic conditions such as cardiovascular, renal and respiratory disease.

There are currently no treatments or preventative therapies for hMPV and no combination vaccines for RSV.

Iskra Reic, executive vice president, Vaccines & Immune Therapies, AstraZeneca, said: "This virus-like particle vaccine technology has the potential to transform prevention against severe infectious diseases, including RSV and hMPV.

"With the addition of Icosavax's Phase III-ready lead asset to our late-stage pipeline, we will have a differentiated, advanced investigational vaccine, and a platform for further development of combination vaccines against respiratory viruses.

"This aligns with our strategy to deliver a portfolio of therapies to address high unmet needs in infectious diseases, and our ambition to protect the most vulnerable patients who have high risk of severe outcomes."