AstraZeneca announced that it will acquire blood cancer biotech TeneoTwo, in a deal worth up to $1.27 billion, in a move to bolster its blood cancer pipeline.
Paramount to the deal is TeneoTwo's phase I clinical-stage CD19/CD3 T-cell engager, TNB-486, currently under evaluation in relapsed and refractory B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
According to AstraZeneca, the acquisition of TNB-486 will hopefully accelerate the development of this potential new medicine for B-cell haematologic malignancies, including diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and follicular lymphoma. The therapy, if successful, will further diversify AstraZeneca’s haematology pipeline that already spans multiple therapeutic modalities and mechanisms to address a broad spectrum of blood cancers.
The deal was made possible by Amgen's acquisition of California-based Teneobio last July. Prior to the close of the all-cash $900 million upfront deal, three Teneobio affiliates were spun-off: TeneoTwo, TeneoFour and TeneoTen.
AstraZeneca's TeneoTwo deal — which involved an upfront payment of $100 million as well as additional R&D-related milestone payments of up to $805 million and commercial-related milestone payments of up to $360 million — is likely to close in the third quarter of this year.