The $400 million deal will position Bioverativ as a key player in the rare blood disorder space.
Bioverativ will acquire San Francisco-based biotech True North Therapeutics for $400 million upfront — and $425 million in potential milestone payments. Bioverativ notably gains True North’s preclinical stage asset for Cold Agglutinin Disease (CAD), known currently as TNT009. Bioverativ, which was spun out of Biogen in February, hopes to expand beyond their hemophilia pipeline through this acquisition and additionally focus on treatment for the rare blood disorder.
The clinical phase candidate, Monoclonal antibody TNT009, caters to patients with autoimmune hemolytic anemia CAD by honing in C1 and inhibiting the innate immune system’s classical complement pathway. This pathway is acted on in those with CAD through autoantibodies that bind to red blood cells at a temperature of 37°C or lower. Those who suffer from CAD experience anemia, fatigue and blood clots as the immune system destroys red blood cells — there is currently no therapy on the market to address these needs.
The clinical trial of TNT009 has been markedly successful so far, and led to the interest in True North’s acquisition. The data from the therapy’s Phase Ib trial was particularly promising. Four out of five of the subjects that received the treatment responded within the first day of TNT009 administration. These results only improved with time — after a four-week course on the therapy, three out of the five subjects achieved a total turnaround, with their hemoglobin levels rising to upwards of 12 g/dl. These findings were presented at the European Hematology Association (EHA) nearly a year ago and helped secure a $45 million Series D round for the drug. TNT009 was further propelled into Phase II due to the increased investment, which further allowed True North to further devote the funds toward the rest of their pipeline — obviously making it attractive for Bioverativ.
Bioverativ CEO, John Cox, issued a statement regarding the buyout — and what it means not only for the company—but also for patients. “[The takeover] strengthens our pipeline with a potential first-in-class therapy to treat CAD, a rare blood disorder with a high unmet patient need,” he pointed out in his statement on the acquisition. “People living with CAD currently have no approved treatment options and suffer with a significant disease burden including crippling fatigue, frequent transfusions and an increased risk of life-threatening thrombotic events such as pulmonary embolism and stroke.”
TNT009 has been designated as an orphan therapy by both the FDA and EMA.