Immune Design

Immune Design was a late-stage immunotherapy company developing next-generation in vivo approaches intended to enable the body's immune system to fight disease. Its proprietary technologies, GLAAS and ZVex, were engineered to activate the immune system's natural ability to generate and/or expand antigen-specific cytotoxic immune cells against cancer and other chronic diseases. The pipeline spanned immuno-oncology as well as infectious and allergic disease indications.

The lead product candidate, G100, was a potent intratumoral TLR4 agonist designed to use a range of endogenous antigens to generate a systemic anti-tumor immune response, with reported clinical benefit in multiple tumor types and application in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. G100 was in a Phase 1/2 study, held an FDA orphan drug designation, and was evaluated in combination with Merck's anti-PD-1 checkpoint inhibitor Keytruda (pembrolizumab) in follicular lymphoma patients who had received three prior lines of systemic therapy. In February 2019, Merck announced a definitive agreement to acquire the company for $5.85 per share in cash, approximately $300 million.

Business model

Immune Design developed proprietary immunotherapy candidates in-house while licensing foundational technology from academic and research institutions, and pursued pharmaceutical collaborations to advance applications in infectious disease and allergy indications. It was a publicly traded company (NASDAQ: IMDZ) prior to the Merck acquisition.

Traction

G100 advanced into a Phase 1/2 study with FDA orphan drug designation and was tested in combination with Merck's Keytruda in follicular lymphoma; the company also had ongoing pharmaceutical collaborations covering infectious disease and allergy applications. In October 2018 it halted development of the CMB305 cancer vaccine after an early analysis of a Phase 2 study combining it with Genentech's Tecentriq in relapsed synovial sarcoma, stating it would seek external collaborations to continue CMB305 development in sarcoma.

Latest developments

On February 21, 2019, Merck and Immune Design announced a definitive agreement for Merck to acquire Immune Design for $5.85 per share in cash, valuing the deal at approximately $300 million. The transaction was structured as a tender offer through Merck subsidiary Cascade Merger Sub Inc., followed by a second-step merger, conditioned on a majority of shares being tendered and expiration of the Hart-Scott-Rodino waiting period, and was expected to close early in the second quarter of 2019. Credit Suisse and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher advised Merck; Lazard and Cooley advised Immune Design. Immune Design shares rose to $5.82 following the announcement.