Amgen today announced it will acquire privately held, clinical stage biotechnology company Teneobio in a deal that includes a $900 million upfront cash payment, plus future contingent milestone payments. Complements $AMGN Antibody Research Capabilities Across Therapeutic Areas.
Amgen today announced it will acquire privately held, clinical stage biotechnology company Teneobio in a deal that includes a $900 million upfront cash payment, plus future contingent milestone payments. Complements $AMGN Antibody Research Capabilities Across Therapeutic Areas.
Amgen Inc. agreed to buy privately held biotechnology company Teneobio for a $900 million upfront cash payment, plus future contingent milestone payments potentially valued at up to an additional $1.6 billion.
Teneobio is developing biologics called human heavy-chain antibodies. The acquisition includes Teneobio’s proprietary bispecific and multispecific antibody technologies, which will enable significant acceleration and efficiency in the discovery and development of new molecules that have the potential to treat a wide range of important diseases across Amgen’s core therapeutic areas. The company’s multi-specific antibodies “engage the immune system against multiple disease types, including cancer, autoimmune disorders and infectious diseases.”
Its antibody discovery platform is based on UniRat, a “proprietary heavy-chain only, human immunoglobulin transgenic rat.” Amgen said Teneobio’s technology “will enable significant acceleration and efficiency in the discovery and development of new molecules,” and its T-cell engager platform “expands on Amgen’s existing leadership position in bispecific T-cell engagers.”
In June, AbbVie Inc. exercised its right to acquire TeneoOne Inc., a Teneobio affiliate. Teneobio’s investors have include Lightspeed Venture Partners.
“The acquisition of Teneobio will strengthen our ability to develop innovative medicines to treat patients with serious illnesses and to bring to market best-in-class products, particularly with respect to multispecific and bispecific medicines directed against targets in a wide range of diseases across our core therapeutic areas,” said David M. Reese, M.D., executive vice president of Research and Development at Amgen.
“Teneobio’s antibody platform complements our existing capabilities and could potentially give us a more diverse set of building blocks that can be developed into new multispecific therapeutics. In addition, the availability of Teneobio’s CD3 engager technology will allow us to broaden our capabilities in generating bispecifics, and with our own technology, enable customization of the T cell engaging domain of the molecules depending on the disease and target.”
The acquisition will also add TNB-585, a Phase 1 bispecific T cell-engager for the treatment of metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC), and several preclinical oncology pipeline assets with the potential for near-term IND filings.
TNB-585 complements Amgen’s existing prostate cancer portfolio, which includes acapatamab (formerly AMG 160) and AMG 509, both in Phase 1. Each of these three investigational therapies uses a different approach to treat a highly prevalent disease for which new treatment options are very much needed.
The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions, including applicable regulatory approvals and is expected to close in the second half of 2021. Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC acted as financial advisor to Amgen and Latham & Watkins LLP as its legal advisor. Gunderson Dettmer Stough Villeneuve Franklin & Hachigian, LLP acted as legal advisor to TeneoBio.
Source: PRNewswire From The TradersCommunity News Desk