Tang Capital Partners’ Concentra Biosciences is back with yet another biotech buyout offer, this time proposing to acquire LianBio in a cash deal of $4.30 per share.
Part of the offer includes Concentra receiving rights to 80% of net proceeds on any of U.S.- and China-based LianBio’s programs, according to details of the acquisition proposal outlined in Nov. 30 Securities and Exchange Commission documents.
Concentra and controlling shareholder Tang Capital highlighted LianBio’s ability to monetize on commercial rights for Camzyos, a medication used to treat obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy that snagged FDA approval in 2022. In 2020, LianBio licensed rights to the med from Bristol Myers Squibb’s MyoKardia for Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Thailand and Singapore.
At the end of this year’s third quarter, LianBio said it was conducting a strategic review in order to recognize the full value of its company. As of Sept. 30, the biotech had $252.2 million in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities.
Concentra and Tang Capital said they think they can maximize value for LianBio stockholders and would manage or transition any remaining clinical study activities. However, Concentra’s offer depends on LianBio having at least $515 million of cash and cash equivalents at closing.
If LianBio accepts the offer, Concentra said a definitive agreement could be negotiated by Dec. 22 and close by Feb. 22, 2024.
Concentra is asking LianBio for a response by 5 p.m. ET on Dec. 8, at which point the offer will expire.
Just last week, Tang Capital reached out to Theseus Pharmaceuticals with a similar buyout offer on behalf of Concentra. The deal involved the acquisition of Theseus common stock at $3.80 per share in cash, plus the right to receive 80% of the net proceeds of any program.
Theseus, which also recently received an offer from VC firms Foresite and Orbimed, dubbed the Concentra proposition as “unsolicited,” though the company has publicly shared that it is open to a buyout.
The offer is the latest in a string of Concentra attempts to snap up a troubled biotech, following a reach out to Rain Oncology last month. Tang has already scored success when Concentra used a last-minute offer to snatch Jounce Therapeutics out of the hands of Redx Pharma in March, although an attempt to buy Atea Pharmaceuticals a few weeks later was rejected.