4BIO Capital’s portfolio company, Araris Biotech, a Swiss oncology biotech company developing next-generation antibody drug conjugates (ADCs), has entered into an agreement to be acquired by Taiho Pharmaceutical.
The acquisition follows a research collaboration between Taiho Pharmaceutical and Araris signed in November 2023 and is expected to be completed in the first half of 2025.
Under the terms of the agreement, Taiho Pharmaceutical will pay $400 million upfront, with the potential for additional milestone payments of up to $740 million, and for a total amount of up to $1.14 billion.
Araris is advancing three products for the treatment of haematological and solid tumours developed using its unique AraLinQ technology, all of which are currently in the preclinical stage. These products are anticipated to enter into clinical trials between 2025 and 2026 and will benefit from Taiho Pharmaceutical’s clinical development expertise.
Dr Dragan Grabulovski, Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Araris, said: “Araris has developed a unique ADC technology that delivers different cancer-fighting drugs directly to tumours with high precision. This approach allows multiple treatment methods to work together at the same time while reducing harmful side effects. We are excited to join forces with Taiho Pharmaceutical whose deep expertise in oncology will be instrumental in accelerating the clinical development of our promising ADC candidates for both haematological and solid tumours.”
