Amgen announced that it has successfully completed its previously announced acquisition of Teneobio, Inc. (Teneobio). Effective as of Oct. 19, 2021, Amgen has acquired all outstanding equity of Teneobio in exchange for a USD 900 million upfront cash payment, as well as future contingent milestone payments, to former Teneobio equity holders potentially worth up to an additional USD 1.6 billion in cash.
"Amgen is pioneering the application of T cell engagers and a broad array of bi- and multispecific biologics to treat a range of human diseases across our therapeutic areas of focus," said David M. Reese, M.D., executive vice president of Research and Development at Amgen. "Teneobio's expertise and technologies will further expand our repertoire of multispecific architectures and advance our overarching mission to develop transformative innovation to bring to market best-in-class products to serve our patients."
The acquisition includes Teneobio's proprietary bispecific and multispecific antibody technologies, which complement Amgen's existing antibody capabilities and BiTE® platform and 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 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 Investigational New Drug (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.
Prior to the consummation of the acquisition, Teneobio distributed to its equity holders all equity held by Teneobio in (i) TeneoTwo, Inc., which develops TNB-486, a bispecific antibody targeting CD19 on tumor cells and CD3 on T-cells, (ii) TeneoFour, Inc., which develops anti-CD38 heavy chain antibodies that block the enzyme functions of CD38, and (iii) TeneoTen, Inc., which develops bispecific antibodies directed against the hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and CD3.
