In a show of faith in an experimental cancer treatment now in clinical trials, California biotech giant Amgen has agreed to acquire Rockville’s Micromet for $1.16 billion in cash.

Micromet is developing an antibody, blinatumomab, initially for treating leukemia and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The novel therapy, designed to direct the body’s cell-destroying T cells to target and kill tumor cells, has shown promise in its phase 2 trials.

“We believe that this transaction represents an attractive opportunity for Micromet, its stockholders and cancer patients,” Christian Itin, president and CEO of Micromet, said in a statement. “Amgen’s extensive resources and experience in the development and commercialization of biologics promise to speed blinatumomab’s path to market, expand its development across a broader range of B-cell malignancies and maximize the full potential of our novel BiTE technology.”

A Micromet spokeswoman did not return a phone message seeking further comment.

The boards of both companies have approved the deal.

The agreement calls for Amgen to buy all outstanding shares of Micromet for $11 apiece. Micromet stock closed at $8.28 Wednesday, then shot up 32.3 percent to $10.95 in pre-market trading Thursday.

Under the deal, Micromet will operate as a subsidiary of Amgen, and its research and development unit in Munich, Germany, will become an Amgen facility.

“The acquisition of Micromet is an opportunity to acquire an innovative oncology asset with global rights and a validated technology platform with broad potential clinical applications,” said Kevin Sharer, chairman and CEO of the Thousand Oaks biotech. “Blinatumomab will serve as an important complement to our oncology pipeline and is representative of our corporate strategy, which is focused on developing and successfully commercializing therapeutics to treat patients with grievous illness.”

Amgen, established in 1980, develops treatments for cancer, kidney disease, rheumatoid arthritis, bone disease and other illnesses. Among its more well-known products is Enbrel, for treating psoriatic arthritis.

In other Maryland bioscience industry news:

EntreMed, a Rockville biotech developing cancer treatments, reported that it secured $10 million in financing from investors including IDG-Accel China Growth Fund II, Emerging Technology Partners and Tak W. Mak, director of the Campbell Family Institute for Cancer Research.

The company agreed to issue and sell them convertible notes totaling $10 million. The investors also will be issued warrants for common stock.

At the closing, which is expected by Friday, IDG and Emerging Technology are authorized to name a total of two company directors.

“The proceeds from the notes will allow the Company to accelerate and expand its research and development activities, fund additional trials, initiatives and long term strategic plans,” Chairman Michael M. Tarnow said in a statement.

EntreMed also said it expects to name an interim CEO by the closing. In December 2008, its board eliminated the office of president and CEO and appointed an executive committee comprising three directors to oversee its management team, according to a regulatory filing.

BioMetrx, a privately held Bethesda biotech, has licensed the worldwide rights to a potential new cancer treatment and diagnostic from Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington, D.C.

The “theranostic” agent is called Rasstore. Its name derives from how it could restore the body’s natural ability to suppress tumor cells, utilizing the tumor suppressor gene RASSF1A, according to a medical center statement.

Its two inventors are Georgetown researchers who also are affiliated with BioMetrx, according to the company’s website: Milton Brown is director of the medical center’s drug discovery program and also founder and chief scientist at BioMetrx; and Partha Banerjee is a clinical and scientific adviser to the company.

“It’s rewarding for Partha and me to see an agent progress from concept to where we are today — on the verge of completing pre-clinical [investigational new drug-] enabling studies for a new agent which we believe has applications in prostate cancer and possibly other cancers as well,” Brown said in the statement.

“Our commercial relationship with BioMetrx represents the process in universities that harnesses the enthusiasm of seasoned entrepreneurs who form a company around the technology, raise funds and then leverage the technical expertise of the inventors to advance the technology… the start up process,” Claudia Stewart, vice president of technology commercialization at Georgetown, said in the statement.

BioMetrx has begun raising capital to support clinical investigation of the candidate.

“We believe Rasstore will be very attractive to other pharmaceutical companies,” said John Wells, the company’s executive vice president for global operations. “This agent has the potential to enhance existing therapeutics because of its potential to restore the body’s natural tumor suppression capability.”

DynPort Vaccine of Frederick reported that a phase 2 clinical trial of its recombinant botulinum vaccine candidate showed it to be safe and well-tolerated, while also eliciting a strong immune response.

The company, a subsidiary of CSC of Falls Church, Va., is developing the vaccine to protect adults ages 18 to 55 from fatal botulism caused by inhalational intoxication with two serotypes of botulinum neurotoxin.

The trial involved 440 healthy adults.

“We are pleased with these results and are looking forward to phase 3 clinical trials of this vaccine, to support the needs of the Department of Defense and the U.S. warfighter,” company President Robert V. House said in a statement.

Scientists working at the Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick originally identified and developed the vaccine.

Eli Lilly and Co. of Indianapolis has agreed to acquire privately held ChemGen of Gaithersburg, which develops and commercializes feed enzyme products to boost poultry, egg and meat production.

ChemGen will continue its research and administrative operations in Gaithersburg and its manufacturing activities at its plant in Terre Haute, Ind., according to a statement from Lilly division Elanco. Upon closing, expected in the first quarter, ChemGen will be a wholly owned subsidiary of Lilly and an operating unit of Elanco.

“Enzymes are naturally-occurring proteins that have been widely used and accepted in many industries for decades,” ChemGen’s president, Bernie Treidl, said in a statement. “ChemGen has been at work over the past 25 years improving the manufacturing and delivery process of enzymes for feed uses. Our focus … is to develop innovative feed enzyme products, which aligns well with Elanco's goal of using technology solutions to meet the world's growing demand for food.

“My team at ChemGen looks forward to joining Elanco and working together to meet that goal.”

Vanda Pharmaceuticals of Rockville reported that initial results from a phase 3 clinical trial show that its tasimelteon can reset the body clock and align it to a constant 24-hour day in patients with non-24-hour sleep-wake disorder.

Tasimelteon is a circadian regulator designed to treat the disorder in totally blind individuals.

The observation was made in four patients during the initial run-in segment of the study.

While light resets the body clock in most people, keeping it synchronized with the 24-hour day, it cannot in totally blind people, disrupting their sleep cycles. The disorder affects from 65,000 to 95,000 Americans. Vanda is currently studying tasimelteon in two phase 3 studies, which it expects to wrap up this year.

Akonni Biosystems of Frederick reported raising $934,650 of a $20 million equity offering from three investors.

The company develops, manufactures and markets integrated molecular diagnostic systems.

The Maryland Stem Cell Research Commission is launching a new grant program to help support for-profit companies’ pre-clinical and clinical research.

The program was created to accelerate stem cell research in Maryland and stimulate the local economy, according to a commission statement.

“Moving research as rapidly as possible from the laboratory to pre-clinical and clinical trials will shorten the time patients must wait to benefit from emerging new stem cell therapies,” said Chairwoman Margaret Conn Himelfarb in the statement.

Pre-clinical research grants are capped at $500,000 and call for a 50 percent match by the recipient. The clinical research grants are capped at $750,000 and require a full company match. The matches may be in-kind.

rrand@gazette.net