Biotechnology company Amgen has agreed to acquire Teneobio, a privately held clinical stage biotechnology firm, in a deal valued at about $900m.
Teneobio is developing a new class of biologics, called Human Heavy-Chain Antibodies (UniAb), to treat cancer, autoimmunity, and infectious diseases.
TeneoSeek, the company’s discovery platform, includes next-generation sequencing, genetically engineered animals (UniRat and OmniFlic), bioinformatics and high-throughput vector assembly technologies.
The transaction will include Teneobio’s bispecific and multispecific antibody technologies that will help Amgen to speed up the discovery and development of new molecules.
These new molecules will have potential to treat a broad range of diseases that fall under Amgen’s core therapeutic areas.
Teneobio will also add TNB-585, a Phase 1 bispecific T cell-engager that helps to treat metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC), as well as several preclinical oncology pipeline assets with the potential for near-term IND filings.
Amgen Research and Development executive vice president David Reese said: “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.
“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.”
Under the agreement terms, Amgen will make an upfront cash payment of $900m and an additional $1.6bn of future contingent milestone payments in cash to Teneobio equity holders.
Subject to customary closing conditions, including applicable regulatory approvals, the transaction is anticipated to be concluded in the second half of this year.
Before completion of the deal, Teneobio will spin out three of its affiliates that include TeneoTwo (anti-CD19/CD3), TeneoFour (anti-CD38 enzyme inhibitor) and TeneoTen (anti-HBV/CD3).