Argenx is paying $77 a share, cash, for Forte Biosciences. Total equity value: $2.2 billion. That’s an 86% premium to Forte’s volume-weighted average price since July 9, the day Forte dropped Phase 1b vitiligo data showing its lead drug beat placebo.
The mechanics matter here. Argenx runs a cash tender offer through a subsidiary, then mops up remaining shares in a follow-on merger at the same $77. Funded from cash on hand, no debt raise needed. Close targeted for Q3.
What argenx actually gets: FB102, a first-in-class anti-CD122 antibody with proof-of-concept in vitiligo and celiac disease, both still Phase 1b. That’s an early stage to pay a nine-figure premium for, but argenx already had skin in the game. It put roughly $150 million into Forte’s public offering back in April, before converting from investor to acquirer once the Phase 1b data landed.
Argenx can afford the premium. It just posted $1.5 billion in Vyvgart sales for the quarter, up 60% year-on-year.
The real question is whether FB102 becomes the second act, or an expensive hedge.
— Diana Kowalski