Bristol Myers acquires cell therapy partner 2seventy bio for about $286 million

(Reuters) -Bristol Myers Squibb will acquire 2seventy bio for about $286 million in cash, sending the cancer cell therapy maker’s shares up 76% in premarket trading on Tuesday.

Late on Monday, 2seventy said Bristol Myers will acquire all outstanding shares of the company for $5.00 per share, which is at a premium of 88% to the stock’s last close on Friday.

The companies have partnered on Abecma, a CAR T-cell therapy for the treatment of a type of blood cancer called multiple myeloma.

CAR T-cell therapies work by collecting white blood cells from a patient, genetically modifying them to fight a cancer and then infusing them back into the patient.

The acquisition could save Bristol future profit-sharing costs in Abecma, according to Leerink analyst David Risinger.

For 2seventy, the deal brings to a close a process that started with its spinoff from gene-therapy maker bluebird bio in 2021. Then, 2seventy sought to focus on CAR T-cell treatments, with Abecma as its only approved product.

But the partners struggled to scale up sales of the therapy, facing competition from Johnson & Johnson and Legend Biotech’s Carvykti.

Last year, 2seventy sold all its experimental cell therapies to Regeneron Pharmaceuticals to focus only on Abecma.

Sales of Abecma came in at $242 million in the United States last year, down 32.4% from 2023.

The deal is expected to close in the second quarter.

(Reporting by Christy Santhosh in Bengaluru; Editing by Leroy Leo)