MedImmune Strikes Deal Worth Up to $500 Million

In a deal worth up to $500 million, MedImmune will acquire Amplimmune, a private firm that was a Johns Hopkins University spinoff, the Washington Business Journal reports.

The move is expected to bolster cancer-related research, MedImmune’s parent company AstraZeneca said in a news release Monday. Amplimmune launched in 2007 as a Johns Hopkins “spinout” that focused on immune-based biologics, The Business Journal reports.

MedImmune and Amplimmune are based in Gaithersburg.

According to AstraZeneca, MedImmune would initially pay $225 million and could possibly pay another $275 million if certain “development milestones” were reached.

The deal is expected to close later this year.