Tilos Therapeutics, a US-based biopharmaceutical company established by pharmaceutical firm Boehringer Ingelheim and hospital network Partners HealthCare, yesterday agreed to an acquisition worth up to $773m by pharmaceutical group Merck & Co.
Merck will, through an unnamed subsidiary, purchase all outstanding shares in Tilos and make an upfront payment, with additional contingent milestone payments. Details of the size of each part of the deal were not disclosed.
Founded in 2016, Tilos is developing treatments targeting TGFβ, a small protein that plays a crucial role in immune and stem cell regulation. It is hoping to develop antibodies aimed at cancer, fibrosis and autoimmune diseases.
The company was co-founded by Boehringer Ingelheim’s corporate venturing subsidiary, Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund, and Partners Innovation Fund, the strategic investment arm of Partners HealthCare, in 2016.
Tilos commercialises research led by Howard Weiner, the Robert L Kroc professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School as well as being the founder of the Partners Multiple Sclerosis Center and a co-director of the Center for Neurologic Diseases at Brigham & Women’s Hospital, owned by Partners HealthCare.
Tilos raised $750,000 in funding in 2016 and another $3m in capital in 2017, according to regulatory filings. ShangPharma Innovation Fund, which is owned by venture capital firm and incubator ShangPharma, was identified by Tilos as a backer yesterday but has not revealed when it invested.
Barbara Fox, chief executive of Tilos, said: “We are proud that the Tilos team has advanced the discoveries of our scientific founders by developing a portfolio of anti-[latency associated peptide] antibodies designed to realise the full potential of TGFβ-modulating therapeutics.
“This agreement with Merck, an industry leader in biopharmaceutical research and development, provides meaningful validation for our therapeutic approach and best positions our pipeline for broad clinical and commercial success.”
