Wolf Theiss and Covington & Burling have advised MSD on the acquisition of 100% of Austrian biotech company Themis Bioscience. Brandl & Talos and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati advised the selling shareholders on the deal, which remains subject to regulatory approval, with McDermott Will & Emery and Herbst Kinsky advising Themis Bioscience. Financial details were not disclosed.
According to Brandl & Talos, the shareholders of Themis Bioscience include Farallon Capital Management, Global Health Investment Fund, Adjuvent Capital, Wellington Partners Life Sciences, Ventech, Omnes-Fonds, Hadean Ventures, and Aws Gruenderfonds.
According to Wolf Theiss, Themis, which was founded in 2009, "is developing a pipeline of vaccine candidates and immune-modulatory therapies on the basis of an innovative measles virus vector platform. Themis is currently researching a vaccine candidate targeting SARS-CoV-2 for the prevention of COVID-19." For its part, the firm reports, "MSD is a global leader in infectious diseases and vaccines, with a long history of researching, developing, manufacturing, and distributing vaccines. The acquisition builds upon ongoing collaboration between the two companies and is expected to accelerate the development of Themis' COVID-19 vaccine candidate.”
Wolf Theiss’ team included Partners Hartwig Kienast, Kurt Retter, Georg Kresbach, Ralf Peschek, Karl Binder, Consultant Adolf Zemann, Counsel Jochen Anweiler, Senior Associates Michael Kienzl and Paulina Pomorski, and Associates Lukas Slameczka, Clemens Pretscher, Dominik Engel, Lisa Babler, and Michael Meindl.
Brandl & Talos’s team included Partner Roman Rericha, Attorney Markus Arzt, and Associates Stephan Strass and Matea Plavotic.
Herbst Kinsky’s team included Partner Florian Steinhart and Attorney Felix Kernbichler.
Wilson Sonsini's team included Partners Robert Ishii and Miranda Biven.
McDermott Will & Emery’s team included Partners Emmanuelle Trombe and David Lipkin.
Covington & Burling’s team included Partners Catherine Dargan and Michael Riella.
