May 17 Quick Takes: Antengene adds CD73 inhibitor to pipeline via Calithera deal; plus Aadi, Apellis, Charles River-Vigene, FDA and Sanofi-GSK
Seven months after its $360 million IPO on the Hong Kong stock exchange, Shanghai-based Antengene Corp. Ltd. (HKEX:6996) is building out its pipeline with exclusive, worldwide development and commercialization rights from Calithera Biosciences Inc. (NASDAQ:CALA) to CB-708 (ATC-037), a preclinical small molecule CD73 inhibitor. Calithera will receive an undisclosed upfront payment and is eligible for $255 million in milestones plus tiered royalties up to low double digit percentages. It had cut 35% of its team following a pivotal Phase II miss in January for GLS inhibitor telaglenastat in renal cell carcinoma and expects the new deal will enable it to focus its resources on Phase II testing of telaglenastat in non-small cell lung cancer and Phase I testing of arginase inhibitor CB-280 in cystic fibrosis.
Cancer play Aadi Bioscience Inc. plans to make its public market debut via a reverse merger with Aerpio Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ARPO) and a concurrent $155 million PIPE financing led by Acuta Capital Partners and KVP Capital. Following the PIPE deal, Aerpio shareholders will own about 14.7% of the combined company, which will be focused on advancing a pipeline of programs for genetically-defined cancers with alterations in mTOR pathway genes. Additional investors in the PIPE include Avoro Capital Advisors, Avoro Ventures, Venrock Healthcare Capital Partners, BVF Partners, Vivo Capital, Alta Bioequities, Rock Springs Capital, RTW Investments, Acorn Bioventures and Serrado Capital. ...