Astellas gains an option on Audax’s IL-12 antibody-cytokine fusion DAX-044, while EVERSANA acquires London-based health economics firm Estima Scientific.
Two transactions announced this week sit at opposite ends of the biopharma value chain: access to an early-stage immuno-oncology program, and the technology used to show payers what a product is worth.
Astellas Pharma Inc. secured an exclusive option on an investigational cancer therapy from Audax Biosciences Pty Ltd, in a deal valued at up to US$1.34 billion excluding royalties.1 EVERSANA, a commercial services provider to the biopharmaceutical industry, acquired Estima Scientific, a London-based health economics and outcomes research (HEOR) technology company, for undisclosed terms.2
Astellas and Audax, an Australian biotechnology company, entered an exclusive option and license agreement for DAX-044, an investigational, immune-targeted interleukin-12 (IL-12) antibody-cytokine fusion for immuno-oncology.1
“By combining Audax’s innovative science with Astellas’ development, manufacturing and commercialization expertise, we hope to advance a potential new treatment option for patients with solid tumors, including cancers where effective immune stimulation remains an important therapeutic challenge,” says Takahiko Iwaya, chief strategy officer at Astellas.
If Astellas exercises the option, it would receive a worldwide license to develop, manufacture and commercialize DAX-044 and assume sole responsibility for those activities. Audax has the option to co-fund and co-promote the drug in Australia and New Zealand.
Exercise is subject to customary conditions, including antitrust clearances.1 Total potential value reaches up to US$1.34 billion, excluding royalties.
Audax would receive US$285 million through an upfront payment and a potential option exercise payment, plus up to US$1.05 billion in development and commercial milestones and tiered double-digit royalties on worldwide net sales if the drug is approved.1 Audax will fund and continue development into a Phase 1 study expected to begin in 2027.1
DAX-044 uses the AVIKINE antibody-cytokine platform and is designed to concentrate IL-12’s immune-activating activity in the tumor microenvironment while limiting the systemic toxicity that has historically constrained IL-12-based therapy.1 That constraint is documented.
A 1997 report on a Phase 2 trial of recombinant human IL-12 found that 12 of 17 patients were hospitalized and two died. Investigators traced the severe toxicity to the dosing schedule, because a single priming dose given two weeks earlier in the Phase 1 protocol was absent from the Phase 2 regimen.3
The program is still in preclinical development, and no human data have been reported. Audax says preclinical studies show a potentially best-in-class therapeutic index for an IL-12 agent, a characterization the company has not yet tested in patients.1
Audax also cautions that Astellas may not exercise its option and that milestone payments may never be received.1
“DAX-044 is a promising investigational immuno-oncology program with a differentiated mechanism designed to selectively activate anti-tumor immune responses,” Iwaya says.
Jai Rautela, PhD, MBA, chief executive officer of Audax, frames the deal around the clinical timeline.
“This partnership will expedite the planned phase 1 clinical evaluation of DAX-044 for the benefit of patients with various types of solid tumor,” he says.
EVERSANA has acquired Estima Scientific, a London-based HEOR technology and services company founded in 2019. Financial terms were not disclosed.2
Estima pairs specialist consulting with proprietary software, including web-based generative artificial intelligence (AI) applications for economic modeling, systematic literature reviews and network meta-analysis.2 Its team, including co-founders Tim Reason and Andy Gimblett, will join EVERSANA’s global workforce, and its expertise will be folded into EVERSANA’s market access and value and evidence solutions, with continuity planned for existing clients.2
HEOR work supports the evidence manufacturers submit to payers and to health technology assessment bodies. The release says Estima’s solutions have been validated by large pharmaceutical customers and by assessment bodies, including the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), but it does not describe what that validation covered.2
NICE’s August 2024 position statement says any use of AI should follow the principle of “augmentation, not replacement, of human involvement,” and that the submitting organization remains accountable for the content of its submission.4
“The company’s global scale and end-to-end commercial infrastructure will allow us to accelerate how pharmaceutical companies build and communicate evidence-based value to payers, helping patients gain faster access to life-changing therapies,” says Reason, co-founder of Estima Scientific.
The deal builds on EVERSANA’s AI Agency platform, launched in 2025 and expanded in August 2026.2
“As we scale to serve global clients, adding best-in-class companies that embrace a technology first mindset is critical to our success. The Estima Scientific team checks every box and will seamlessly fit into our organization,” says Mark Thierer, CEO of EVERSANA.
Because the price and integration timeline were not disclosed, the transaction’s financial scale and its effect on Estima’s existing client contracts remain unclear.2
