{"id":34246,"date":"2026-07-28T13:01:06","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T13:01:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/34246\/"},"modified":"2026-07-28T13:01:06","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T13:01:06","slug":"netherlands-argenx-to-acquire-forte-biosciences-for-us2-2bn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/34246\/","title":{"rendered":"Netherlands: argenx to acquire Forte Biosciences for US$2.2bn"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dutch\/Belgian Euronext- and Nasdaq-listed argenx, a global immunology innovation company, is to acquire Nasdaq-listed Forte Biosciences, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, for US$77 per share in cash, representing a total equity value of approximately US$2.2bn \u2013 a premium of approximately 86% to Forte Biosciences\u2019 VWAP since reporting <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fortebiorx.com\/investor-relations\/news\/news-details\/2026\/FB102-Achieves-Statistically-Significant-Improvement-in-Vitiligo-at-Week-24-After-Completion-of-12-Week-Treatment-Period\/default.aspx\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">positive Phase 1b data in vitiligo on 9 July<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Forte Biosciences\u2019 lead programme, FB102, expands argenx\u2019s portfolio of differentiated immunology medicines, adding a first-in-class anti-CD122 antibody with clinical proof-of-concept in vitiligo and celiac disease and potential to address multiple autoimmune diseases.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe . . . firmly believe that argenx is the ideal strategic partner to unlock the full potential of this novel anti-CD122 antibody across a broad range of autoimmune diseases,\u201d said <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/paul-wagner-70b0284\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Paul A Wagner<\/a>, CEO and chairperson of Forte Biosciences. \u201cBy combining FB102\u2019s promising clinical profile with argenx\u2019s proven development expertise, global reach and commercial capabilities, we have a unique opportunity to accelerate its development and maximise its impact for patients living with vitiligo, celiac disease, alopecia areata and other autoimmune conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In addition to positive Phase 1b data in vitiligo, positive FB102 Phase 1b data in celiac disease was recorded last year, with Phase 2 data expected in the second half of this year. These studies were key drivers of argenx\u2019s decision to move from strategic investment to acquisition.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe addition of FB102 to our portfolio aligns perfectly with the argenx playbook: compelling biology, strong clinical validation and broad potential to address patient need,\u201d said <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/karen-massey-argenx\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Karen Massey<\/a>, CEO of argenx. \u201cTogether, we look forward to unlocking the full potential of FB102 and accelerating its impact for patients.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The transaction is not subject to a financing condition and will be funded entirely from cash on hand.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The boards of directors of both companies have approved the transaction.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Advisors<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Goldman Sachs is exclusive financial advisor and Freshfields is serving as legal advisor to argenx. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Guggenheim Securities is exclusive financial advisor and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich &amp; Rosati is legal counsel to Forte Biosciences.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Press release: <a href=\"https:\/\/argenx.com\/news\/2026\/press-release-3333257.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">argenx | argenx to Acquire Forte Biosciences, Inc., Adding First-in-Class anti-CD122 Antibody, FB102, to its Immunology Pipeline<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dutch\/Belgian Euronext- and Nasdaq-listed argenx, a global immunology innovation company, is to acquire Nasdaq-listed Forte Biosciences, a clinical-stage&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":34247,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[22372,697,22373,22374,1573,22375,22376,6,22377,22378],"class_list":["post-34246","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-netherlands","tag-argenx","tag-belgium","tag-forte-biosciences","tag-freshfields","tag-goldman-sachs","tag-guggenheim-securities","tag-karen-massey","tag-netherlands","tag-paul-wagner","tag-wilson-sonsini-goodrich-rosati"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34246","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34246"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34246\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34247"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34246"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34246"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34246"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}