Newly-Formed Ancora Biotech Will Continue Operations of Teneobio Spin-offs After Successful Acquisition of Teneobio by Amgen
NEWARK, Calif., October 26, 2021 – Ancora Biotech announced, in connection with the closing of the acquisition of Teneobio, Inc., by Amgen Inc., that Teneobio’s former shareholders and their representatives will provide oversight of three previous affiliates of Teneobio, including TeneoTwo, Inc. (TNB-486, anti-CD19xCD3), TeneoFour, Inc. (anti-CD38 enzyme inhibitor TNB-738) and TeneoTen, Inc. (anti-HBVxCD3). These spin-offs were not part of the acquisition by Amgen of Teneobio.
TeneoTwo’s TNB-486 is currently in phase I clinical studies for the treatment of B-cell malignancies, while TeneoFour’s TNB-738, targeting inflammatory diseases, will enter Phase I in early 2022. TeneoTen’s anti-HBVxCD3 involves a new approach to potentially cure chronic hepatitis B.
Roland Buelow, former CEO of Teneobio, Inc., and CEO of Ancora Biotech said, “We are excited that Amgen will advance Teneobio’s pipeline of assets in the clinic and further apply Teneobio’s technologies. In parallel, Teneobio’s former shareholders and their representatives will oversee development of the former Teneobio affiliates that were not part of the Amgen transaction. We strongly believe in the potential of TNB-486 which targets malignant B-cells, TNB-738 targeting inflammation and our anti-HBVxCD3 that will target liver cells chronically infected with Hepatitis B virus.”
In 2016 Lightspeed Venture Partners led Teneobio’s Series A Preferred round, Teneobio’s only institutional financing, along with Sutter Hill Ventures. Jonathan MacQuitty, Head of Life Science Sector at Lightspeed who joined Teneobio‘s Board at the time of the Series A Preferred round, commented, “With the Amgen acquisition and the recent exercise by Abbvie of its option to acquire TeneoOne, Roland and the team at newly formed Ancora Biotech LLC can now focus on these remaining spin-offs.”
Dr. MacQuitty continued, “The vision that Roland brought to Lightspeed in 2016 of a novel bispecific platform that could provide life changing therapies was compelling. It has now borne fruit and with the help of Amgen, Abbvie and now Ancora, we look forward to its potential use in helping patients with several different life-threatening diseases.”
About Ancora Biotech:
Ancora Biotech LLC, a privately held service provider, is supporting clinical development of assets for TeneoTwo, TeneoFour and TeneoTen. All four companies are part of TBio, LLC. TBio, LLC owners include certain former executives and former shareholders of Teneobio, including Lightspeed Venture Partners and Sutter Hill Ventures. Ancora oversees manufacturing and clinical development of these assets including TeneoTwo’s clinical stage TNB-486 (anti-CD19xCD3), TeneoFour’s preclinical TNB-738 (an anti-CD38 enzyme inhibitor and anti-inflammatory poised to enter Phase I clinical studies in Q1 2022) and TeneoTen’s development of preclinical anti-HBVxCD3 for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B.
Media Contact:
Dan Childs
Porter Novelli