Checkmate Pharmaceuticals Acquired by Regeneron

Cambridge-based Checkmate Pharmaceuticals has agreed to be acquired by Regeneron in a transaction that values Checkmate at approximately $250 million. Checkmate is a clinical stage biopharm focused on harnessing the power of the immune system to combat cancer. The transaction is expected to close in mid-2022.

Checkmate’s lead investigational candidate is vidutolimod which is administered into the tumor and is believed to induce and expand anti-tumor T cells and induce tumor regression. Vidutolimod is a CpG-A oligodeoxynucleotide Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) agonist delivered in a virus-like particle. It is an investigational therapy and has not been approved by the FDA or any other regulatory agency.

Checkmate Founder and Chief Scientific Officer Art Krieg said, “We believe that the data we have generated with vidutolimod positions Checkmate at the forefront of the innate immune activator field. It is our hope that Regeneron’s resources and expertise will help accelerate the development of vidutolimod and realization of the full potential of our virus-like particle (VLP) platform for immunotherapy.” (Source: Checkmate Pharmaceuticals Website, 19 April, 2022)