OCT 20, 2022
Oxford, UK – 20 October 2022 – Oxford Science Enterprises (OSE) today announces that its Life Sciences portfolio company DJS Antibodies (DJS) is to be acquired by AbbVie, the research-based global biopharmaceutical company.
Under the terms of the agreement, AbbVie will pay DJS shareholders approximately $255 million in cash at closing for the acquisition. DJS shareholders remain eligible for potential additional payments upon the achievement of certain development milestones related to the success of the DJS-002 programme. AbbVie anticipates retaining all current DJS employees and its facility in Oxford.
Founded in 2014 by University of Oxford alumni David Llewellyn and Joe Illingworth, DJS is a biotechnology company dedicated to discovering and developing antibody medicines that target difficult-to-drug disease-causing proteins such as G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). Its lead programme, DJS-002, is a potential first-in-class lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) receptor 1 antagonist antibody in preclinical development for the treatment of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) and other fibrotic diseases. IPF is an aggressive, high-mortality condition caused by scarring in the lungs and remains an area of high unmet medical need.
DJS has also developed its proprietary HEPTAD platform, a novel approach to antibody discovery with specific capabilities for transmembrane protein targets. AbbVie intends to access the HEPTAD platform as a complement to its current robust capabilities in biotherapeutics research.
OSE supported DJS from inception alongside Johnson & Johnson Innovation, and in 2020 the company raised £6 million in a Series A financing co-led by LifeArc and Sedgwick Yard, with participation from Amgen Ventures and follow-on investment from OSE.
Katya Smirnyagina, Senior Partner and Head of Life Sciences at OSE, said:
“We have been hugely impressed with the progress made by DJS over the past few years and are delighted that the vision and drive of its entrepreneurial team has been recognised through this acquisition. AbbVie is gaining a pipeline of highly innovative antibody therapeutic programmes with the potential to treat severe fibrotic and inflammatory diseases where treatment options for patients are insufficient. AbbVie’s therapeutic area and development expertise will be crucial to progressing these novel therapeutics towards patients. At OSE, we are very proud to have supported David and Joe on their journey, not least because of the potential benefits that patients might derive from effective new treatment options, but also because their success will inspire the next generation of entrepreneurial scientists that OSE can back in the coming years.”
David Llewellyn, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer at DJS Antibodies, said:
“Building DJS has required innovative science, an enormously dedicated and talented team, plenty of hard work, and a good dose of luck. OSE has been instrumental in creating the innovative and entrepreneurial ecosystem in Oxford that is essential for companies like DJS, enabling them to take risks and pursue cutting-edge science. We are extremely grateful to have had the opportunity to work within this community, and proud that our team has been able to utilise the opportunity to deliver an exciting pipeline with the potential to really help patients suffering from chronic inflammatory and fibrotic diseases.”
Joe Illingworth, Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer at DJS Antibodies, added:
“DJS is proud of what we have achieved to date, but we remain eager to utilise our antibody discovery technology to generate even more programmes into the future. The whole team is incredibly excited to take the next step in this journey with AbbVie as we work together to accelerate the translation of our lead programme into the clinic and develop an exciting research centre here in the UK.”
View the full press release at AbbVie’s news page.