argenx has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Unnatural Products, Inc., adding a macrocyclic peptide discovery engine to its immunology capabilities. argenx, which already holds a minority stake in UNP, will acquire all remaining shares in a transaction valuing UNP at up to approximately $1.15 billion.
The deal pairs UNP's peptide expertise with argenx's antibody engineering, expanding the ways argenx can pursue novel biology and develop oral or long-acting medicines for people living with serious immune-mediated diseases. UNP's platform addresses the complexities of medicinal chemistry in the macrocyclic peptide space through a combination of parallel experimentation and machine learning.
Under the terms, argenx will pay $550 million upfront in cash on hand and up to $595 million in payments contingent on achievement of specified development and regulatory milestones. The boards of directors of both companies have approved the transaction, which is expected to close by the end of the year, subject to customary closing conditions.
The acquisition builds on more than two years of collaboration and investment between the companies. Following closing, UNP's team and leadership will continue to operate from its Santa Cruz, California site, which will serve as argenx's home for peptide discovery. UNP will continue to lead its discovery work within a strategic framework agreed upon with argenx, and argenx will bring its clinical development and commercialization capabilities to advance those medicines to patients.
CEO Karen Massey said UNP adds macrocyclic peptide capabilities highly complementary to argenx's antibody engineering.
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