F-star suitor slashed bid as internal confidence sank in clinical programs

The road to F-star’s takeout by a Sino Biopharm affiliate at less than half the initially proposed price per share was marked by the biotech’s acknowledgment that its clinical programs’ chances of success were growing less likely amid a fund-raising environment in a state of “deterioration,” according to a new regulatory filing.

The document revealed that buyer invoX Pharma Ltd., a U.K.-based international affiliate of Sino Biopharmaceutical Ltd. (HKEX:1177), initially bid $15.50 per share in January to acquire F-star Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:FSTX), five and a half months before clinching the $161 million deal at $7.12 per share...