Amal Therapeutics becomes a subsidiary of a German Pharma giant

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16.07.2019
Amal Therapeutics Team

Since its establishment, Amal Therapeutics has raised more than €40 million in venture capital in addition to grants among others. The biotech startup and spinoff from the University of Geneva is now a subsidiary of the German pharma company, Boehringer Ingelheim, which acquired all shares of the latter for EUR 325 million.

Two months following the announcement of their collaboration, Boehringer Ingelheim has acquired all shares in Amal Therapeutics. The latter plans to develop new therapies by combining assets from its cancer immunology portfolio with AMAL’s proprietary KISIMA immunization platform.

Boehringer Ingelheim’s Cancer Immunology group is built to discover therapies that engage triggering of immune responses against non-inflamed, “cold” tumours, which represent a large group of cancer types refractory to many treatments, including checkpoint inhibitor drugs. Immune targeting of cold tumours is a particular challenge. AMAL’s KISIMA vaccine technology, designed to stimulate potent immune responses, is a promising therapeutic option for patients with these type of cancers.

Michel Pairet, member of Boehringer Ingelheim’s Board of Managing Directors with responsibility for the company’s Innovation Unit asserts that the decision to acquire Amal is driven by the ambition to “pioneer new paradigms of biology-based care for cancer patients, and the technologies and expertise developed at AMAL are critical to our efforts”.

As revealed in the press release, the total transaction could amount up to EUR 325 million and is comprised of upfront payment as well as contingent clinical, development and regulatory milestones plus up to EUR 100 million if certain commercial milestones are hit.

Amal Therapeutics will remain at its headquarters on the medical campus of the University of Geneva, from which it was spun-out in 2012, with financial backing from a syndicate of both corporate and institutional investors, including the Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund and High-Tech Gründerfonds as the initial seed investors. Additional investments were provided by VI Partners, Helsinn Investment Fund, BioMed Partners and Schroder Adveq. In total the startup raised more than €40 million in venture capital alongside grants and venture kick funds.

Every year from 2014 to 2017, Amal Therapeutics secured a position in the in the Top 100 Swiss startups and has celebrated various accomplishments throughout with the exit bringing the company's success to the climax.


(Press release)

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