It’s been a busy morning for business development in the autoimmune space, with Century Therapeutics snapping up Clade Therapeutics and Eliem Therapeutics striking a deal for Tenet Medicines.
First up is Century, which is paying around $35 million upfront to acquire Clade and its αβ iT platform. Century’s President of R&D Hy Levitsky, M.D., said the platform has “delivered a process capable of exquisitely controlling iPSC differentiation toward definitive hematopoiesis and the generation of adaptive αβ CD4+ and CD8+ T cells for the treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases.”
“Under the leadership of a pioneering team of scientists and senior leaders with decades of experience in stem cell biology and iPSC differentiation enabled by significant capital investment from their investors, Clade has established a discovery engine with industry-changing potential,” Levitsky added in an April 11 release.
Clade’s preclinical pipeline includes CLDE-308, an αβ iT cell program targeting CD19 in autoimmune disease and B-cell malignancies; CLDE-361, an αβ iT cell program targeting B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA) in the muscle condition myasthenia gravis; and an undisclosed iT cell focused research program in solid tumors.
Those three lead assets will “further enhance Century’s pipeline,” Levitsky said.
In return, Century is handing over $35 million in a mixture of cash and stock. There’s also a $10 million payment to play for upon achieving a specific clinical milestone.
In a note this morning, analysts at William Blair branded the acquisition “intriguing” given that it “expands Century’s iPSC platform, pipeline, and expertise to include αβ iT cell programs, which have been more technically challenging to generate compared with NK and gamma delta T cells.”
Century announced the acquisition along with news that it had cemented a cash runway into 2026 courtesy of bringing in $60 million via a private placement of its common stock. Century’s lead program is a CD19-targeting allogeneic iNK cell therapy called CNTY-101, which is due to enter a phase 1 trial for severe systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) later this year.
CNTY-101 rose to the front of Century’s pipeline in January, when the biotech de-prioritized investment in CNTY-103, a CD133-targeting CAR-iNK cell therapy candidate in preclinical development for glioblastoma, along with a discovery program for hematologic malignancies.
With the pipeline reprioritization, Century closed its lab operations in Seattle and Hamilton to consolidate its work in Philadelphia. Those moves meant a quarter of the company’s workforce was laid off.
Eliem tempted by Tenet’s lead asset
Meanwhile, the autoimmune disease potential of Tenet is what enticed Eliem to make its own acquisition this morning. Specifically, Eliem has its eyes on TNT119, an anti-CD19 antibody that has potential to treat everything from SLE to immune thrombocytopenia and membranous nephropathy.
Once Tenet has become absorbed by Eliem, TNT119 will become the merged company’s lead asset ahead of the candidate entering planned phase 2 trials for SLE and immune thrombocytopenia in the second half of the year. Tenet’s stockholders will own around 15% of the combined company.
Like Century, Eliem has also ensured its coffers are full as it goes into M&A mode. The company is bringing in $120 million via a private placement of its common stock that is due to close at the same time as the acquisition.
“The Eliem board of directors has conducted a thorough review of strategic alternatives, and we believe the transaction we are announcing today with Tenet presents a compelling opportunity for our stockholders,” Eliem’s executive chairman Andrew Levin said in an April 11 release. “We believe TNT119 represents a promising clinical asset across multiple autoimmune diseases targeting markets where there is a need for improved treatment options.”
The merger and the placement mean that the enlarged Eliem should have $210 million to hand in cash and equivalents. This will be enough to push TNT119 through its key upcoming milestones as well as fund the company’s operations into 2027.
Eliem has been searching for a savior since July 2023, when the biotech shuttered its last pipeline program and launched a search for strategic alternatives. Just a few months before, the nervous system disorder-focused company axed a phase-2-ready depression drug candidate and laid off 55% of staff, citing a “challenging capital environment” as the reason for ending work on its most advanced candidate.