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OPKO Health Acquires ModeX Therapeutics, Gains Proprietary Immunotherapy Technology with a Focus on Oncology and Infectious Diseases
Dr. Elias Zerhouni, ModeX Chairman, former President of Global R&D at Sanofi and former NIH Director, named President and Vice Chairman of OPKODr. Gary Nabel,
About this update from Opko Health, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"Dr. Elias Zerhouni, ModeX Chairman, former President of Global R&D at Sanofi and former NIH Director, named President and Vice Chairman of OPKODr. Gary Nabel, ModeX President and CEO, former Chief Scientific Officer at Sanofi and founder of NIH’s Vaccine Research Center, joins OPKO as Chief Innovation Officer and a member of OPKO’s Board of DirectorsAlexis Borisy, ModeX Lead Independent Director and a leading biotechnology entrepreneur and investor, joins OPKO’s Board of Directors Transaction to be discussed during OPKO’s first quarter 2022 conference call today at 4:30 p.m. ET MIAMI, May 09, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- OPKO Health, Inc. (NASDAQ: OPK), a multinational biopharmaceutical and diagnostics company, today announced the acquisition of ModeX Therapeutics, Inc. a privately held biotechnology company focused on developing innovative multi-specific immune therapies for cancer and infectious diseases. OPKO acquired ModeX for $300 million in OPKO common stock. Founded in October 2020 with headquarters in Natick, Mass., ModeX Therapeutics has developed highly flexible multi-specific antibody technology platforms with broad targeting and functional capabilities, simpler manufacturing and potentially better specificity and safety, providing significant differentiation from competing platforms. The design of these multi-specifics is amenable to gene-based delivery by mRNA or DNA vectors. The ModeX product portfolio includes cancer immunotherapies that combine four specificities into one protein to improve targeting and immune killing, as well as masking or “stealth” technology to improve tumor-specific killing and reduce side effects. For viral diseases, the lead targets of a broad and potent multi-specific antibody portfolio include HIV and SARS-CoV-2. A vaccine for Epstein-Barr virus is also in development. “The acquisition of ModeX Therapeutics significantly broadens our technology foundation and expands our product pipeline to include multi-specific multi-functional antibodies focused on a range of cancers and infectious diseases, with applicability to other therapeutic areas. We believe the promise of better outcomes for patients treated with these multi-specific antibodies represents a next generation of large molecule therapeutics and the next chapter of OPKO,” said Phillip Frost, M.D., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer o...