Xoma Royalty and Lava Therapeutics are turning the temperature down, dropping both the cash per share offer and closing cash conditions of an acquisition inked back in August.
The changes mean shareholders will now receive $1.04 per share, compared to the previous range of $1.16 to $1.24, according to an Oct. 17 release.
Lava’s shareholders will still have the right to certain payments from a non-transferable contingent value right (CVR), including the previously announced rights to 75% of the net proceeds on Lava’s two partnered assets and any sale of the Dutch biotech’s unpartnered programs.
The updated deal also tacks on new rights for shareholders to receive up to 23 cents per CVR, depending on a final determination made after certain potential liabilities are closed, according to the release.
The companies have also revised the minimum net cash Lava has to have at the closing of the deal, dropping the prior $31.5 million requirement to $24.5 million.
The deal was set to expire Oct. 17, a timeline that has now been extended until Nov. 12. The proposed buyout is expected to close sometime before the year ends, according to the release.
Related
The acquisition comes after the biotech’s bispecific gamma delta T-cell engager LAVA-1207 failed to prove its worth in a phase 1 prostate cancer study at the end of 2024, prompting the company to let go of 30% of its employees. In May, Lava closed down its operations in the Netherlands and implemented another workforce reduction.
The company’s active assets are a Johnson & Johnson-partnered CD33- and gamma delta T cell-targeting program and a Pfizer-partnered EGFR and bispecific gamma delta T cell receptor-targeted therapy.
