LONDON, UK: Oncimmune Holdings has sold its diagnostic business, including the EarlyCDT® Lung blood test and antibody platform, to Freenome Holdings, a US-based biotechnology company developing a multiomics platform for early cancer detection and intervention.
The deal is worth £13M in cash and is expected to be completed in the coming weeks.
Oncimmune will retain its ImmunoINSIGHTS business, which provides discovery services to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies using its proprietary NavigAID™ panels. Oncimmune and Freenome have also signed a long-term Master Services Agreement (“MSA”), under which Freenome will use Oncimmune’s ImmunoINSIGHTS services to accelerate its pipeline for multiple cancers, with a guaranteed commitment of at least €1.14M per year.
The sale of the diagnostic business is part of Oncimmune’s strategy to focus on its core and growth markets and to realise value from its non-core assets. The diagnostic business operates under the William Hill and Mr Green brands, which Oncimmune acquired as part of its takeover of Mr Green & Co AB in 2019. The business has a 10% market share in Latvia and generated net revenue of £9.1 million and EBITDA of £2.5 million in 2022.
As part of the deal, Oncimmune has agreed to repay €7.2M of its existing debt facility with IPF Management SA (“IPF Partners”) and has entered into a new debt facility for the remaining €6.0M, with a more favourable repayment profile and interest rate. Oncimmune expects to have approximately £6.7M in cash after the deal, which removes any material uncertainty as regards going concern.
Dr Adam M Hill, CEO of Oncimmune said: “We are delighted to pass the EarlyCDT® technology platform and pipeline of autoantibody targets for other cancer indications to Freenome to advance Freenome’s multi-cancer early detection screening pipeline. We have confidence that in their hands and with our teams’ expertise, the full potential of the technology will be unlocked to the benefit of patients. Having now completed the Sale, the Group will focus on driving profitable growth in our ImmunoINSIGHTS pharma services business. Signing the MSA between ImmunoINSIGHTS and Freenome also adds Freenome as a new major client alongside 7 of the top 15 global pharma companies who use the ImmunoINSIGHTS platform.”
Mike Nolan, Chief Executive Officer of Freenome said: “Oncimmune and Freenome share a deep commitment to patients and this acquisition is consistent with Freenome’s holistic solution to cancer detection. Oncimmune’s track record of translating innovative technologies into mainstream clinical use, now being integrated with Freenome’s platform and team, strengthens our multiomics approach to make an even greater impact for patients across a range of indications.”
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