Concentra Biosciences continues to scavenge for struggling biotechs, this time picking up antibody biotech IGM Biosciences for $1.25 per share.
IGM’s board has approved the acquisition by Tang Capital Partners’ Concentra, and the deal is expected to close in August, according to a July 1 release.
Concentra has tacked on a contingent value right that will provide IGM with any net cash from the deal once it exceeds $82 million plus 80% of proceeds received from the biotech’s pipeline candidates and intellectual property that occurs within a year of closing.
The deal closing depends on IGM having at least $82 million available in cash among other customary closing conditions, according to the release.
California-based IGM set out to develop a new class of antibody medicines with its engineered IgM therapeutic candidates. The biotech has been around for almost 30 years, operating under the name Palingen until 2010.
But the company hit dire straits in early May, when Sanofi scrapped a collaboration and effectively terminated the biotech’s last program in the process. In response, IGM laid off 80% of its staff and closed most of its lab and office spaces.
The dissolved deal with Sanofi was just one of many roadblocks the biotech faced over the last few years. In late 2023, the company laid off 22% of its workforce and then underwent a further restructuring in September 2024. The biotech started 2025 by axing its last two internal drug candidates and reducing its head count by 73%, meaning the company’s pipeline consisted solely of the Sanofi-shared programs.
Most recently, IGM received written notice from Nasdaq indicating that the biotech failed to meet the $50 million minimum market value for the company's publicly held shares, according to a June 6 Securities and Exchange Commission document. IGM has 180 calendar days, or until Dec. 3, to regain compliance, according to the filing.
Enter Concentra, the increasingly busy company that’s already scooped up at least three other struggling biotechs this year. Just this June, Concentra announced plans to acquire Elevation Oncology after buying Kronos Bio and Allakos.
Not all of Concentra's recent M&A efforts have succeeded, though. In response to the company’s advances, two biotechs enacted "poison pill" defenses in March to keep Concentra away. One of them, Acelyrin, chose to merge with another biotech rather than sell itself.