Ligand acquires Tolerance Therapeutics for $20M in cash

Ligand (LGND) announced that it has acquired Tolerance Therapeutics for $20M in cash. Tolerance Therapeutics is a holding company, owned by the inventors of Tzield, that is owed a royalty of less than 1% on worldwide net sales. The transaction will be immediately accretive to Ligand’s royalty revenue. Tzield is the first disease-modifying therapy in type 1 diabetes. It is a CD3-directed antibody indicated to delay the onset of Stage 3 T1D in adults and children aged eight years and older with Stage 2 T1D. Tzield was granted breakthrough therapy designation in 2019 and was approved by the FDA in November 2022. Tzield is marketed by Sanofi (SNY), following its acquisition of Provention Bio, the owner of Tzield, in 2023 for $2.9 billion. Sanofi recently announced new data from Tzield’s PROTECT Phase 3 trial which showed Tzield’s potential to slow the progression of Stage 3 T1D in newly diagnosed children and adolescents. Tzield met the study’s primary endpoint, significantly slowing the decline of C-peptide levels, compared to placebo.