IP Group Notes Centessa Pharma Launch Following ApcinteX Sale

(Alliance News) - IP Group PLC on Wednesday noted the announcement from Centessa Pharmaceuticals that it has launched with a USD250 million financing round after having acquired a number of assets including IP Group investee ApcinteX Ltd.

Created from a merger of ten startups, Centessa - founded by venture capital firm Medicxi - launched on Tuesday with the aim of building a large pharma firm with each of the subsidiaries focusing on a particular expertise.

"The vision of Centessa is to build a pharmaceutical company with a unique operational framework that aims to reduce some of the key R&D inefficiencies that classical pharmaceutical companies face because of structural constraints. Our operations will be driven by an asset-centric approach, whereby each Centessa Subsidiary is solely focused on the execution of its programs with oversight from the highly experienced Centessa management team," said Medicxi Co-Founder & Centessa Pharma Chair Francesco De Rubertis.

The other Centessa subsidiaries are Capella BioScience, Janpix, LockBody, Morphogen-IX, Orexia Therapeutics, Palladio Biosciences, PearlRiver Bio, Pega-One and Z Factor. Centessa's current portfolio consists of four clinical stage programs - including two that are in late-stage clinical development - and over ten additional programs focusing on diseases across oncology, hematology, immunology, inflammation, neuroscience and rare diseases.

On Wednesday, FTSE 250-listed intellectual property development firm IP Group said its minority stake in Centessa is valued at GBP19.0 million, representing a fair value gain of GBP11.0 million from the holding value of ApcinteX at June 30.

It added that ApcinteX is currently developing SerpinPC for the treatment for hemophilia A and hemophilia B.

Shares in IP Group were trading 0.3% lower at 114.66 pence each on Wednesday morning in London.

By Ife Taiwo; ifetaiwo@alliancenews.com

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