BIOBRIEF
Argenx is paying $77 per share in cash for Forte, a Dallas biotech whose value rests on FB102, a Phase 1b antibody tied to a 29.6% facial vitiligo improvement and also being tested for celiac disease.
Netherlands-based argenx is paying roughly $2.2 billion in cash, or $77 per share, to acquire Forte Biosciences, the companies said Monday. The price is about 86% above Forte's volume-weighted average since the company's July 9 vitiligo readout.
FB102 is a first-in-class anti-CD122 antibody that blocks the receptor for IL-2 and IL-15, two cytokines that drive the pathogenic T cells and natural killer cells implicated in autoimmune disease. In a 43-patient, placebo-controlled Phase 1b, the drug was tied to a 29.6% mean improvement in facial vitiligo area scoring at week 24, with repigmentation holding 12 weeks after treatment ended. argenx and Forte describe the asset as a "pipeline-in-a-product" with potential in vitiligo, celiac disease, alopecia areata, and other autoimmune conditions.
The acquisition extends argenx's autoimmune portfolio beyond its commercial Vyvgart and its Phase 3 complement and MuSK programs into a distinct T-cell- and NK-cell-targeting mechanism. argenx has held a stake in Forte since 2022, when the Dallas biotech came under pressure from a top shareholder to liquidate after a separate atopic dermatitis program failed in Phase 2.
The next test is a Phase 2 celiac readout expected in the second half of 2026. The deal, structured as a cash tender offer and back-end merger subject to HSR clearance, is expected to close in the third quarter.