Equillium Acquires Bioniz Therapeutics Significantly Expanding Pipeline of Novel Immunomodulatory Drug Candidates

Equillium, Inc. a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing novel therapeutics to treat severe autoimmune and inflammatory disorders with high unmet medical need, today announced that it has acquired Bioniz Therapeutics, Inc., a privately held clinical-stage biotechnology company. Bioniz developed its novel structured-domain peptides, including BNZ-1 and BNZ-2, entirely in-house from its proprietary product discovery platform. The Bioniz lead product candidates are multi-specific inhibitors of key disease-driving, clinically validated cytokine targets aimed at addressing unmet needs across a range of immuno-inflammatory indications.

Transaction Details
With the acquisition of Bioniz, Equillium obtained exclusive worldwide rights to all current and future Bioniz products. The transaction consideration is comprised of an all-stock upfront payment of 5,699,492 unregistered shares of common stock of Equillium issuable to Bioniz stockholders, which represents approximately 19.3% of Equillium’s outstanding capital stock. Approximately 97% of the issued Equillium stock is subject to a standard 6-month lock-up provision and thereafter will be released ratably each month over the following 6 months. Equillium is also obligated to pay Bioniz stockholders up to $57.5 million in potential development milestone payments across three Bioniz clinical candidates (BNZ-1, BNZ-2, and BNZ-3) beginning upon first U.S. marketing approval, and up to $250 million in sales milestone payments based upon BNZ-1 achieving calendar year global net sales of $500, $1,000, $1,500, and $2,000 million. Other than the aforementioned milestones, Equillium does not have any third-party obligations with respect to milestones or royalties related to the Bioniz products or platform. Equillium has sole discretion over the timing and extent of advancing clinical development of the Bioniz products. Bioniz was estimated to have modestly positive net working capital at closing.

Webcast and Conference Call
Management will host a conference call accompanied by a slide presentation to discuss the acquisition of Bioniz for analysts and institutional investors, at 8:00 am ET today, February 16, 2022. To access the call, please dial (888) 350-3846 or (646) 960-0251 and, if needed, provide confirmation number 8770084. A live webcast of the call will also be available on the company’s Investor Relations page at https://ir.equilliumbio.com/events-and-presentations. The webcast will be archived for 180 days.

About Itolizumab
Itolizumab is a clinical-stage, first-in-class anti-CD6 monoclonal antibody that selectively targets the CD6-ALCAM pathway. This pathway plays a central role in modulating the activity and trafficking of T cells that drive a number of immuno-inflammatory diseases. Equillium acquired rights to itolizumab through an exclusive partnership with Biocon Limited.

About Bioniz
Bioniz is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing precision cytokine targeted therapies for the treatment of immuno-inflammatory diseases. Bioniz’s platform incorporates world class expertise in cytokine biology to advance a novel therapeutic approach to selectively inhibit functionally redundant cytokines while leaving the rest of the cytokine network intact. Bioniz is developing a robust pipeline of product candidates in multiple autoimmune indications. 

About Equillium
Equillium is a clinical-stage biotechnology company leveraging deep understanding of immunobiology to develop novel products to treat severe autoimmune and inflammatory disorders with high unmet medical need. Equillium is developing itolizumab for multiple severe immuno-inflammatory diseases, including acute graft-versus-host-disease (aGVHD), lupus/lupus nephritis and uncontrolled asthma.