F-star Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSTX) operates as a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, which is focused on the research, development, and commercialization of immunotherapies to treat different types of cancers. Shares of the biopharma company are rallying 58% through early trading on Thursday, June 23, 2022. Over the past three months, F-star Therapeutics has seen average daily volume of 139,210 shares. However, volume of 5.7 million shares or dollar volume of around $36.37 million, has already exchanged hands through early trading.
Shares of F-star Therapeutics are gaining after the company announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by invoX Pharma, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sino Biopharmaceutical Limited. Under the terms of the agreement, invoX will acquire all the outstanding shares of F-star at a price per share of $7.12. This gives the takeover transaction an aggregate value of $161 million. The proposed transaction has been approved by the board of directors of both companies and the deal is estimated to close during the second half of 2022.
The Sino Biopharm subsidiary will gain access to F-star Therapeutics’ proprietary technology, which uses tetravalent (2+2) bispecific antibodies that are able to target two different antigens at the same time. F-star currently has four drug candidate programs that are undergoing clinical processing. The company also is said to have several undisclosed programs under development.
The four clinical programs that F-star is currently operating are FS118, FS222, FS120, and SB 11285:
“FS118: Rescuing CPI treatment failures & Improving outcomes in CPI naïve
A dual checkpoint inhibitor targeting PD-L1 and LAG-3. Phase 2 PoC trial underway in head & neck PD-1 acquired resistance patients as well as in CPI-naïve NSCLC & DLBCL.
FS222: Improving outcomes in PD-L1 low tumors
A CD137 (4-1BB) stimulator and PD-L1 inhibitor, with superior potency seen in pre-clinical activity. Phase 1 trial underway.
FS120: Improving CPI and chemotherapy outcomes
A conditional OX40/CD137 (4-1BB) dual agonist, with broad potential for combination. Phase 1 trial underway.
SB 11285: Improving CPI outcomes
A second generation STING agonist with Phase 1 monotherapy and PD-L1 (atezolizumab) combination trial underway.”
Eliot Forster, Chief Executive Officer of F-star said: “We believe our tetravalent bispecifics offer the best approach to tackle hard-to-treat cancers and other serious diseases, with the ambition to deliver longer and improved lives for patients. Today’s announcement is good news for F-star, for our shareholders and, of course, for patients. This transaction enables greater and longer-term opportunities to develop the F-star platform and accelerate delivery of our novel medicines as we work together towards a future free from cancer and other serious diseases. I’d like to thank the fantastic team at F-star as well as our partners for all their hard work, support and dedication and I’m delighted to share this exciting development.”
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