Pfizer set to snap up Bind’s assets for $20m

Nano-engineering firm Bind Therapeutics has reached a $20m agreement with Pfizer for the purchase of the majority of its assets.

The biotech, which initiated voluntary bankruptcy protection in May, has filed a motion for court approval of Pfizer's cash-in-hand bid, triggering an auction process established under the US Bankruptcy Court.

Should Pfizer be selected as the successful bidder at the auction on 25 July, the pharma giant will gain control of the Bind's Accurin programme with the transaction expected to complete later this year.

The programme uses nano-engineering technology to develop formulations of cancer drugs that selectively seek out diseased tissues and cells, creating safer and more effective medicines.

Pfizer signed a $210m-plus nanomedicines deal with Bind in 2013, seeking to utilise its technology in the move toward the creation of personalised cancer medicines.

Amgen and AstraZeneca also entered into partnerships with the biotech that year, signing $180m and $200m deals, respectively.

The collaboration with Amgen was the first of its kind for Bind, teaming up to apply Accurin's targeted nanoparticle technology to a new version of one of the pharmaceutical company's kinase inhibitor cancer drugs.

Bind's work with AstraZeneca resulted in the Aurora B kinase inhibitor Accurin AZD2811, which became the second Accurin drug to enter clinical development after the company's own oncology candidate BIND-014.

At that time Bind was keen to position its targeted nanomedicines as a strategic technology for the pharmaceutical industry, but suffered badly after releasing mixed results for BIND-014 and filed for bankruptcy in May.